The Toronto Maple Leafs were expected to make a roster move on Monday to accommodate the activation of injured winger Josh Leivo after completing his five-game AHL conditioning stint over the weekend.
The roster move turned out to be Leivo himself, as head coach Mike Babcock indicated after practice in Etobicoke, ON that the 23-year-old is not ready for action after playing five games with the Toronto Marlies.
“Leivo is back, we don’t like him to play more games just because he’s missed so much.… Babcock said. “We’re going to practice him for a bit to get him up to speed before he’s ready to go. So he wouldn’t be cleared yet.…
Placing Leivo back on the non-roster/injury list delays any decision to be made to make room on the 23-man roster, as it was expected that GM Lou Lamoriello would have to send either Peter Holland, Nikita Soshnikov or Frank Corrado to the AHL.
“I don’t what all those rules are (regarding Leivo’s non-roster exemption due to injury), but if you ask somebody who knows, they might be able to explain it.…
The 23-year-old winger went scoreless in five games with the Toronto Marlies, but had a pair of scoring chances and three shots on goal in his final contest against St. John’s on Saturday.
The Leafs clearly want to put off a roster move as long as they can on Leivo, as it is likely that another NHL team in need of forward depth would claim him.
The New York Rangers (tops in the Metropolitan Division with 27 points) lost center Mika Zibanejad for up to two months due to a broken leg and also have rookie winger Pavel Buchnevich out injured, which necessitated the waiver claim of former Ottawa first rounder Matt Puempel on Monday.
Puempel had 111 points in the American Hockey League over parts of five seasons, which is comparable to Leivo’s numbers with the Marlies (124 points in parts of six seasons).
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2015 second rounder Jeremy Bracco was spotted at the Mastercard Center on Monday watching the Leafs practice, which raised speculation regarding the youngster’s contract status.
The 19-year-old Long Island native has been impressive this season with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers, leading the club with 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in 19 games and scoring at least a point in every game. Bracco was named the OHL Player of the Week for the second time on Monday after scoring 10 points in four games.
Leafs prospect Jeremy Bracco now up to 40 points in 19 consecutive OHL games with a four-point effort today against Guelph pic.twitter.com/LEBQ0t10Lt
— Jeff Veillette (@JeffVeillette) November 21, 2016
Bracco will likely be on Team USA’s roster for the upcoming 2017 IIHF World Junior next month and his being at the Leafs practice facility could be an indicator that he is close to signing an entry-level contract.
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The NHL announced that the Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings will be featured in the “Road To the NHL Outdoor Classics… series and the four-part series will debut on EPIX in the US on Friday, Dec. 16 at 10pm and will be available on the NHL website and on Sportsnet in Canada.
The #Leafs Centennial Classic sweater will be available starting at 10am tomorrow at @RealSports Apparel: https://t.co/AP2SXXwk0p#TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/2A28RmIeh1
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 21, 2016
The club also revealed their uniform for the upcoming Centennial Classic at BMO Field in Toronto on January 1.
It has the current Maple Leaf crest and a band of white that encircles the sweater, and the veins within the crest are trimmed in silver as a celebration of the National Hockey League’s and the Maple Leafs’ 100th year.
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Listen to the Blue N' White Tonight podcast with "The Voice of the Marlies" Todd Crocker drops by to take a player by player look at the organization's young prospects:
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