SUNDAY FEATURE: Todd Takes The Long Road To AHL Spotlight

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WINNIPEG, Manitoba - The spark that Colin Chaulk lit under Nathan Todd during his first season with the Brampton Beast (ECHL) in 2017-18 is now engulfed in flames.

It was near the midway point of Todd’s first season in Brampton - his fourth club within a year and a half span - when Chaulk, the Beast’s head coach, called Todd in for a one-on-one meeting that he says he’ll never forget.

At this point in time, Todd's spot in the Beast’s lineup was written in pencil, not pen. He was one of a handful of interchangeable forwards that would rotate in-and-out of his bottom six. Chaulk was pulling Todd aside to inform him that he’d be scratched for the teams’ next game. The news had Todd seeing red, Chaulk says. He was less than pleased, to say the least.

“Did you watch the game? Did you see how well I did on the breakouts?” a frustrated Todd recalled saying to his coach at the time.

Chaulk admitted that while he may have missed some things last game - and he’d go back and take another look - it didn’t matter. His decision was made and he further lamented such with a dose of cold-hard truth.

“Make sure you’re playing a little bit better so I’m not even thinking of taking you out of the lineup,” Chaulk said of his conversation with Todd, knowing the player was capable of being more than average.

“Fine,” Todd said with conviction. “I will be.”

Three and a half years after that meeting, the 25-year-old forward has become much more than just a serviceable ECHL player.

Today, over halfway into the 2020-2021 season, Todd remains in the top-20 in AHL scoring in the midst of what has been a career-altering season with the Manitoba Moose. After entering this season with an AHL resume of one point in 27 career games, Todd is leading the Moose in points (23), even-strength points (14), assists (15) and shots on goal (77) - through 26 games this season.

"He’s always trying to get better on the ice, but also off the ice in terms of how he educates himself through video and watching hockey,” Johnston said. “He’s an absolute hockey addict."

While Chaulk admits it took him a little while to really believe in Todd’s abilities, once he started to see flashes of his upside - like the quick release on his shot and his crisp handle on the puck in-tight - he became a believer. At Brampton’s year-end meetings that year, Chaulk told Todd that if he entered next season in good shape and continued to build off of his game, there was no reason he couldn’t be Brampton’s number one center. And that’s exactly what ended up happening.

During his second season in Brampton, Todd quickly solidified himself as an elite talent at the ECHL level. He recorded 60 points in 71 games that year - all-the-while staying committed to the defensive side of the game - while manning the teams’ first line center spot throughout the whole season.

The following season, Todd’s 2019-2020 campaign, would turn out to be a season for the ages.

It all started with an invite from the Ottawa Senators to play on their rookie showcase team, which promptly earned him an invite to the Senators’ main training camp, then to Belleville’s training camp before returning to Brampton for the start of the season.  From there, Todd bounced back and forth between three different teams, across two different leagues.

“I basically felt I was living out of a suitcase the whole year,” Todd said.

Todd's Travel - 2019-20 Edition

November 1, 2019: Manitoba signs Todd to Professional Tryout (PTO). December 6, 2019: Manitoba releases Todd, re-assign him to Brampton. December 20th, 2019: Manitoba signs Todd to PTO. December 24th, 2019: Manitoba releases Todd, re-assign him to Brampton. January 10, 2020: Belleville signs Todd to PTO. January 26, 2020: Belleville releases Todd from PTO, re-assign him to Brampton. February 27, 2020: Manitoba signs Todd to PTO. March 11, 2020: Manitoba releases Todd from PTO, re-assign him to Brampton.

“I never saw my ‘home’ [in Brampton], I was there for maybe a month the whole season,” Todd said.

Hotel living isn’t ideal.  While Todd jokes that it was nice to get his sheets cleaned every day, it was challenging to live without a kitchen and search for healthy restaurants.

Luckily for Todd, Moose defenceman Jonathan Kovacevic and former Moose forward (and current Winnipeg Jet) Jansen Harkins lived downtown and were extremely welcoming to players on PTO’s.

Todd often went over to their place to unwind throughout what was nothing short of a chaotic season. Even though his time with the Moose was scattered throughout last season, he felt like he belonged. He clicked with the players. The coaches liked him, too. Todd’s game didn’t blow anybody away - while logging fourth line minutes in all 16 games he played in for Mantoba - but Vincent appreciated that he was, as he says, a good soldier amidst some trying circumstances.

"He was very positive, coachable and he was productive," Vincent said.

Heading into the 2020-2021 season, and throughout the lengthy offseason, Todd had some big aspirations.

Despite the fact that signing a deal with Manitoba for the 2020-2021 season was an accomplishment in itself for him at the time, he had his eyes set on more than just being a regular in an AHL lineup. He wanted to take an even bigger step forward. He wanted to be the guy.

“He’s followed up the 20 games he played in last season with a real good offseason,”  Robitaille said. “With training and nutrition and what you’re seeing this year is a product of that.”

The hours Todd put into his summer training back in Ottawa - where he skated with the likes of Erik Karlsson, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Cody Ceci, among others - were evident from day one of Moose training camp. His skating had improved immensely from the season prior.

“His knock has always been his skating and his ability to keep up with the pace of the AHL,” Mann said bluntly.

But with better skating and conditioning, Todd came a better player.

“His cardio base was very good coming into the season, which allowed him to make those offensive plays that he’s capable of making,” Johnston said.

Improvements to his skating stride aside, if it weren't for his reality-check as he joined Brampton, none of this would have mattered. He could've called it quits as he sat on the ECHL waiver-wire, but he didn't. He found a way and that's why he's in the AHL today.

“That’s why I love the Nathan Todd story,” Chaulk said with pride.