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The Toronto Maple Leafs are part of an ever-growing group of clubs that have been shut down by the National Hockey League due to concern with the number of positive COVID cases.
The number of positive cases increased from four (John Tavares, Alex Kerfoot, Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds) to nine on Saturday with TJ Brodie, Travis Dermott, Jack Campbell, head coach Sheldon Keefe and assistant coach Spencer Carbery entering NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
After the postponement of back-to-back games in Vancouver and Seattle on the weekend, the league postponed cross-border games which included the Leafs afternoon game against the St. Louis Blues on December 23 and announced that their training facilities will not re-open until after the holiday break.
Nine teams have now been shut down until the league returns on December 27, when the Leafs are scheduled to play in Columbus. It is possible that some of the seven players currently on the COVID list would be available if they test negative, but if not, the Leafs could have a roster with a large number of Toronto Marlies on emergency recall.
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The Leafs announced the signing of forward Ty Voit to a three-year entry-level contract on Sunday. The Pittsburgh, PA native was selected 153rd overall by Toronto in the 2021 NHL Draft after scoring 28 points in 49 games with the OHL’s Sarnia Sting as a 16-year-old in 2019-20.
Ty Voit keeps piling up the points. He scored a goal and an assist last night to bring him to 7 goals and 16 assists in 17 games.#LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/g4PsClnAof
— Nick Richard (@_NickRichard) November 28, 2021
The 18-year-old has already exceeded those totals in his sophomore campaign, leading the Sting with 29 points (8 goals, 21 assists) in 24 games.
"(Voit’s) great edge work combined with good vision and spatial awareness allows him to maneuver around defensemen and generate scoring plays.… The Hockey Prospect Black Book said in their 2021 Draft preview. “Although Voit is undersized(5’9…, 151 lbs), his skating helps mitigates that concern, as he had no problem generating offense against bigger opponents."
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Lot’s of â¤ï¸ for the 💙ðŸ¤
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) April 26, 2021
Convo on Podcast.#theleafsconvo https://t.co/Xdn3CDLVCI
Latest @OffThePostRadio Podcast, powered by @FullPressNHL!@AnthonyMingioni, @MikeInBuffalo , & @sportsology are back in the comfort of their homes discussing Paul Maurice #GoJetsGo exit, NHL dealing with Covid + #BringItToBroad, #LeafsForever, & #NYR.https://t.co/bDGGwI9KSQ pic.twitter.com/JksxvDRpJZ
— 🎙🏒Off The Post Radio 🥅 🚨 (@OffThePostRadio) December 18, 2021
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