maple leafs

Campbell out, Kallgren recalled, New Convo; Leafs vs. Coyotes

Mar 10, 2022 • 9:01 am

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The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending situation became more of a question mark on Thursday, as the club announced that Jack Campbell would be out a minimum of two weeks with a rib injury. The club has recalled Erik Kallgren from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.

"I don't know exactly what happened or when it happened. I talked to (Jack) this morning. He said he's been dealing with a little bit of something going on for a while now." Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said on Thursday morning, "Hopefully he is able to make a full recovery and I think he's gonna work hard to get back for us and feeling okay."

The 30-year-old netminder is 24-9-4, with a 2.65 GAA and .914 save percentage in 39 starts for the Leafs this season, but has struggled after a hot start, with a 3.47 GAA and .889 save percentage since December 1. Campbell made 26 saves and appeared uninjured in a 6-4 win over Seattle on Tuesday, but his injury puts the club in a precarious position with under two weeks until the NHL Trade Deadline.

Petr Mrazek has seen his workload increase since coming back from early-season groin issues and will now be expected to take on the burden of most of the starts over the next few weeks. Toronto has a busy schedule the rest of March, with 10 games in the next 21 days, including the Heritage Classic against the Buffalo Sabres in Hamilton on Sunday.

Although the injury to Campbell is not a season-ender, the depth of the Leafs goaltending organizationally may be something that GM Kyle Dubas will address before March 21.

Michael Hutchinson does not appear to be a viable option for the big club, and Joseph Woll played much better in his four starts for the Leafs than he has for the Marlies this season.

Kallgren has been a workhorse, making 26 starts (15-8-1, 3.02 GAA, .904 save percentage) for the Marlies this season, but even though he won an SHL title with Vaxjo last year, the 25-year-old has no NHL experience.

The Leafs take on the Arizona Coyotes at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday, with Mrazek making his 14th start of the season. Head coach Sheldon Keefe chose to shake up the forward lines, leaving only the top unit on Michael Bunting, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner intact. Ondrej Kase moved up to the second line with John Tavares and Nick Robertson, Wayne Simmonds shifted to the third line with Alex Kerfoot and William Nylander, and Pierre Engvall, David Kampf, and Ilya Mikheyev making up the fourth line.

Rasmus Sandin is getting closer to returning to the lineup but skated as the extra defenseman at the morning skate on Thursday, with Jason Spezza and Kyle Clifford as healthy scratches.

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