The Toronto Maple Leafs have made the first of what is expected to a number of deals before the February 29th NHL trade deadline, acquiring forward Jeremy Morin from the Chicago Blackhawks for winger Richard Panik.
The forwards are both 24 years old and have put up similar numbers with their clubs American Hockey League affiliates this season.
Morin has nine goals and 13 assists in 28 games for the Rockford IceHogs and Panik has eight goals and 16 assists in 32 games for the Toronto Marlies, including the game winner in a 3-2 overtime victory over Syracuse on Sunday.
A native of Auburn, NY, Morin was part of the package acquired from Atlanta in the Dustin Byfuglien trade in 2010.
After splitting time between Chicago and Rockford for 4 1/2 seasons, the winger was swapped to Columbus for former Leaf defenseman Tim Erixon in 2014, but was re-acquired by the Hawks in the Brandon Saad deal last summer.
Panik was claimed off of waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning in October 2014 and scored 11 goals for Toronto in a third/fourth line role last season, but failed to make an impression on Leafs head coach Mike Babcock during training camp and was assigned to the Marlies after clearing waivers.
The Slovakian winger played at times on the Marlies top line with William Nylander and Josh Leivo, and is a restricted free agent this summer whose qualifying offer would be in excess of $1 Million, which likely meant that Toronto would have allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent.
Morin will report to the Marlies and could be a potential call up for the Leafs when they begin to move out players on the NHL roster in the coming weeks.
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The decision on Leafs prospect William Nylander finally came down on Sunday, as team doctors for Team Sweden ruled the forward out of the rest of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. The 19-year-old has not displayed any adverse symptoms following a blind side hit from Swiss forward Chris Egli on December 26, but is not “100 percent fit… to return for the semi-final contest against Finland on Monday and a possible championship game on Tuesday.
“The decision for William not to play the rest of the tournament was the right decision,… Leafs GM Lou Lamoriello said to the Toronto Star. “He will return to Toronto and be reevaluated by our team physicians. We have been in constant communication with the Swedish Federation and have been supportive of all their decisions throughout this process.…
The question in front of Lamoriello and the Maple Leafs is how long the AHL’s leading scorer will be out of action. Toronto has no reason to be anything other than careful with their prized prospect, since the Marlies have the American Hockey League’s best record. What may be affected is the time table for Nylander to be promoted to the NHL.
William Nylander celebrating a goal with teammate Kasperi Kapanen in November. The Marlies forwards will not meet at the 2016 World Junior on Monday after Nylander was ruled out of the tournament due to a concussion.
Image courtesy of Christian Bonin at TSGPhoto
Speculation prior to the World Junior had the 2014 top pick possibly headed to the Leafs sometime during the second half of the season, which would prevent him from eclipsing 40 games and counting the year towards free agency, but would potentially burn the first year of his three-year entry-level deal if he played 10 games or more.
If Nylander is held out for a good portion of January, it could alter the schedule to promote him till the end of the season when he would not play 10 games or perhaps not at all.
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The Toronto Marlies won their third game in a row and swept the weekend back-to-back against the Syracuse Crunch with a 3-2 overtime win at Ricoh Coliseum on Sunday.
The extra curricular activities from Saturday’s victory resulted in veteran Rich Clune being suspended for one game for being accessed his third game misconduct of the season and Sam Carrick being scratched after damaging his fist in a fight with Syracuse blueliner Anthony DeAngelo.
Forward Mark Arcobello(on emergency recall with the Leafs) was loaned back to the Marlies, along with goalie Antoine Bibeau, who had not seen action since being recalled to backup Jonathan Bernier after James Reimer re-aggravated a groin injury on December 27th.
Here's Richard Panik's OT Goal in tonight's @TorontoMarlies win over Syracuse. pic.twitter.com/K5bAP8amRa
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) January 4, 2016TJ Brennan led Toronto with a goal and two assists, Zach Hyman scored his seventh of the season and Panik scored the winner at 3:30 of overtime on a feed from Josh Leivo. The Marlies improve their record to 27-7-2 and head out on a five-game road trip that starts Friday in Winnipeg against the Manitoba Moose.
Marlies head coach Toronto’s Sheldon Keefe will coach the North Division team as the Marlies currently sport the AHL’s best record at 25-7-2-0 (.765), including a remarkable 15-2-1-0 mark on the road. Keefe, the youngest head coach in the league at 35, is in his first season in the AHL after three years guiding Sault Ste. Marie in the Ontario Hockey League.
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