Three Toronto Marlies have been selected by the American Hockey League for the 2016 AHL All-Star Game on January 31 in Syracuse, N.Y.
Center William Nylander, winger Josh Leivo and defenseman TJ Brennan will be part of Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe's 13-man AHL North squad. Nylander, 19, is currently second in league scoring with 14 goals and 20 assists in 27 games, but his status for the game could be in question due to suffering a concussion at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Helsinki.
Leivo, 22, is 13th in scoring with nine goals and 19 assists in 33 games in his third season with the Toronto Maple Leafs AHL affiliate, while Brennan, 26, has returned to the form that saw him win the Eddie Shore Award for most outstanding AHL defenseman in 2014 and is 5th in the AHL with 13 goals and 18 assists in 35 games.
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The Leafs play the second of back-to-back games in Southern California on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Thursday after shooting down the woeful Ducks 4-0 in Anaheim on Wednesday.
PA Parenteau scored twice, Nazem Kadri and Brad Boyes added singles for Toronto and Jonathan Bernier made 34 saves in earning his second shutout of the season. The Leafs goalie, who started the season 0-8-3 has gone 6-2 in his last eight starts.
Parenteau, who was signed to a one-year, $1.5 Million contract by the Leafs after being bought out of the final year of his contract by the Montreal Canadiens, is fourth in team scoring with 11 goals and 10 assists and third in goals behind Leo Komarov and James van Riemsdyk.
The 32-year-old winger's offensive numbers, free agent status and low salary are likely to be very attractive qualities for clubs with limited cap space closer to the trade deadline and could yield a higher draft choice in return than most people expected.
Goaltender James Reimer, who tweaked a groin injury in the third period of the club's last loss to the NY Islanders on December 29th, will make his first start in over a month.
Thursday's game could be the Kings debut for former Leafs first rounder Luke Schenn, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers along with veteran forward Vincent Lecavalier on Wednesday.
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