He’s an unsigned free agent out of the Sarnia Sting organization in the OHL, vying for a contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs at their development camp and to further his opportunity, but Nolan Dillingham’s trial has taken a turn in the last 24 hours.
During a development camp scrimmage, Dillingham was dressed for the white team when high-end prospect Roni Hirvonen, of the blue squad, cut across the neutral zone. Dillingham, known for his physicality, stood up Hirvonen at the blue line and sent the Maple Leafs’ prospect to the dressing room with what was later revealed as a concussion.
The hit sent a wave through Leafs Nation as the debate began to circulate regarding whether or not Dillingham was in the right in laying out a top team prospect.
Who is Nolan Dillingham?
At 21, Dillingham has aged out of the OHL as a right-handed defenceman. He’s a bigger body and plays a physical game. Outside of a decent playoff run with the Sting in 2022-23 where he tallied six points in 12 games, he’s not known for his offensive game. In fact, Dillingham only tallied nine goals and 32 points over a 147-game OHL career.
Over that same span, he had 143 penalty minutes, but he was considered a leader for the Sting in his final season with the club, donning the ‘C’ in his final OHL season.
As mentioned, he’s a free agent invite to the Maple Leafs development camp and while the purpose of the camp is often mistaken by outsiders, Dillingham is clearly looking to make himself known by the organization’s brass.
Well, with the hit on Saturday, there’s no question that Dillingham has become more of a household name amongst Maple Leafs’ fans. After all, he took out a player that many were hoping to see take the next jump in his development this season, while Hirvonen now has to sit out with a concussion for the time being.
Dillingham Hit Was Clean
As for the hit, its place in development camp is certainly up for debate. The majority seem to think Dillingham should’ve let up and that development camp against your possible teammates isn’t the place for a Scott Stevens type of hit.
Still, the hit itself wasn’t dirty. In fact, Maple Leafs assistant general manager Hayley Wickenheiser noted that while it was a tough hit to see on Hirvonen, the hit was well within the rules of the game.
“It was a clean hit,” Wickenheiser noted after the scrimmage. “It happens to everyone. You never want to see it in a game scenario like this. We all held our breath a little bit, but the fact that [Hirvonen] was able to get up and get off the ice was a good sign. I think he’ll be fine.”
The hit took place on the final day of development camp and while it was clean, it certainly leaves an impression on the Maple Leafs’ brass as it pertains to Dillingham. Online, many have called for the Maple Leafs to not even consider Dillingham for a contract. While he was unlikely to get a contract anyways, the physical right-hander actually fits exactly what the Maple Leafs need on their blue line. The Hirvonen hit was just an example of what he’s capable of.
Maple Leafs Not Worried About Hirvonen
As for Hirvonen, he will need to rest for the next little while, but the Maple Leafs’ prospect was expected to play for the AHL Toronto Marlies in 2023-24. He’s coming off a season with HIFK in the Liiga in which he put up 15 goals and 28 points in 57 regular season games, with another four points in 11 playoff games.
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Even with the injury, the Maple Leafs don’t seem overly worried about his recovery.
“He’ll need some time to recover,” said Wickenheiser. “He’s a very tough human and that was a very big hit.”
The Maple Leafs do expect the second-round pick from 2020 to take another step in his development. His play in recent seasons has exceeded expectations for some outside of the organization.
That said, the situation isn’t promising for everyone involved. The likelihood of Dillingham coming out of this with the a contract surely was minimized with the hit. Even if it was clean, it seems that popular opinion believes that a hit like that has absolutely no place in a team’s development camp. It’s safe to say that Dillingham could be looking for a contract somewhere else this summer.