The Maple Leafs have sent goalie Antoine Bibeau to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
The 21-year-old was recalled after James Reimer re-aggravated a lower body injury in a 1-0 loss to Minnesota last Thursday, but did not play as rookie Garret Sparks started in wins over St. Louis and New Jersey.
The Leafs will not be in action until they face Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning at Air Canada Center next Tuesday. By that time, Reimer is expected to be 100% and Jonathan Bernier's 10-day conditioning stint will have ended.
Bernier made 43 saves in a pair of shutouts against Rochester and Manitoba last weekend and is expected to play in Utica on Friday and in the rematch with the Comets at Ricoh Coliseum on Sunday, while Bibeau will likely play in Syracuse on Saturday.
In spite of opening eyes of Leafs management with a 3-1 record and .921 save percentage and the praise of head coach Mike Babcock, Sparks is well aware that his immediate future lies with the Marlies, who lead the AHL with an 18-5-1 record.
“I’m not making millions of dollars. I’m 22 years old and I belong in the AHL and it’s the best place for my development at this point,… Sparks said to the National Post's David Alter. “Obviously on a team like (the Marlies), there’s nothing wrong with playing in front of a dominant team like that.…
The next three weeks will be a difficult test for Sparks and the Marlies with AHL leading scorer William Nylander and forward Kasperi Kapanen departing for the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki and last year's leading scorer Connor Brown still out with a broken foot.
*******
Leafs prospects Mitch Marner and Travis Dermott were among more than 30 players at the MasterCard Center in Etobicoke, ON for the first day of Team Canada's selection camp.
Mitch Marner. It begins. #worldjrs #TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/o1d7VsHTIJ
— Kevin McGran (@kevin_mcgran) December 10, 2015As expected, Marner was playing right wing(as he has for most of the season with London) with Florida Panthers first rounder Lawson Crouse(Kingston) and Coyotes third overall pick Dylan Strome(Erie), while Dermott was paired with Flyers 2014 top pick Travis Sanheim.
Note : Continue to check back to my column on Hockeybuzz throughout the day for the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.