Toronto Maple Leafs ink Woodbridge's Frank Corrado to 1-year deal

Yorkregion.com
July 28, 2016
By Michael Hayakawa

Frank Corrado and the Toronto Maple Leafs were scheduled to go to an arbitration hearing July 26, but the parties managed to hammer out a deal with a day to spare.

The Woodbridge resident who toiled with the Maple Leafs last season agreed to a one-year contract with the club.

A six-foot tall, 195-pound defenceman, Corrado, 23, will earn a reported $600,000 next season.

For Corrado, working out an agreement with the Maple Leafs was a big relief, especially since he now knows where he will be to start the upcoming season.

“It’s definitely nice to have the contract done with,” he said. “I’ve put some hard work in this summer to get ready for the upcoming season.”

Claimed off waivers from the Vancouver Canucks in early October last year, Corrado said he’s been working hard on and off the ice during the off season to answer the starting bell once training camp commences.

As for what he anticipates his role will be with the Maple Leafs next season, Corrado said that will be worked out during training camp and the preseason.

For Corrado to be one of the Maple Leafs’ top six defencemen, it’s a matter of performing with plenty of self confidence, he said.

If he can do that, he’s confident things will work out in his favour.

“I have to go in and play my game and have confidence. If I do that I know that I can move the puck and move my feet," he said.

“What I need to do is to add some physicality. From there, it’s a case of just trying to control what I can control.”

Logging time in 39 contests last season, Corrado had one goal and five assists.

Corrado was originally drafted by Vancouver in the fifth round of the 2011 NHL entry draft.

Prior to last season, Corrado had spent time with the Canucks and their American Hockey League affiliate in Utica, N.Y.