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The American Hockey League named Toronto Marlies forwards Brendan Leipsic and Kasperi Kapanen to the North Division All-Star team on Thursday.
The 22-year-old Leipsic, obtained in February 2015 from the Nashville Predators, led the American Hockey League in scoring for much of the early part of the 2016-17 regular season, but injury kept the speedy forward out for three weeks during the month of December. In 28 games, Leipsic has 30 points (9 goals and 21 assists) and leads the AHL in power-play assists.
Kapanen, 20, was acquired in July 2015 in the trade that sent Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh and leads the Marlies with 14 goals and is tied with Leipsic for the club scoring lead with 30 points.
The 2017 AHL All-Star Classic will take place January 29-30 at the PPL Center in Allentown, PA.
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The Leafs return to action on Friday against the New Jersey Devils in Newark. According to TSN’s Kristen Shilton, backup Antoine Bibeau was the first to leave practice on Thursday, which could mean the rookie will get the start at the Prudential Center in the first of back-to-back games.
Dan Brown (Connor's Dad), big fan of that last Leafs goal. #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/logg3eDy0R
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) January 4, 2017
Toronto returns to Air Canada Center on Saturday to play the Montreal Canadiens.
The Habs will be rested and waiting for the Leafs in Toronto, but will be without forward Brendan Gallagher, who took a shot from Shea Weber off the hand in Dallas on Wednesday. Defenseman Andrei Markov and Alex Galchenyuk will practice with the club in Toronto on Friday and could return to the lineup on Saturday.
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