Tim Connolly probably won’t spend the rest of the season buried in the AHL, Leafs general manager Dave Nonis said this morning on Toronto radio.
“Is there a chance he will be back (in the NHL)? No question,” Nonis told Sportsnet 590 The Fan. “We’ve had teams call on Tim. I would expect at some point whether it’s with us or someone else that he’ll be back in the NHL before the season’s over.”
A 31-year-old center, Connolly was sent down to the Marlies in January in part to make room for young forwards Nazem Kadri and Matt Frattin.
Connolly had a disappointing 36 points in 70 games last season; however, he didn’t get near the amount of power-play time as he received in 2009-10 when he put up 65 points for the Sabres.
He’s in the final year of his contract, with a salary of $4 million and cap hit of $4.75 million.