The Toronto Maple Leafs will be represented by two players at the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas next month. Leafs forward Auston Matthews was named team captain of the Atlantic Division squad and Jack Campbell was named one of the two goaltenders.
Matthews, who leads Toronto with 38 points (24 goals, 14 assists) and Campbell (18-5-3, 2.02 GAA, .935 save %) will be joined by Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins, Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres, Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings, Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers, Nick Suzuki of the Montreal Canadiens, Drake Batherson of the Ottawa Senators,
and Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Leafs team captain John Tavares is one of eight Atlantic Division players who could be voted on an online ballot, but surprisingly William Nylander, who has more points and has arguably been Toronto’s second-best player (16 goals, 20 assists in 35 games) was snubbed.
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Various countries are revealing their rosters for the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing next month. Due to the decision by the NHL not to participate, players with NHL contracts are ineligible, leaving the teams will be made up of players with AHL deals, playing in Europe or drafted prospects playing in the NCAA or unrestricted free agents.
Team USA announced their roster earlier this week and Leafs prospects Nick Abruzzese of Harvard University and Matthew Knies of the University of Minnesota were named.
Abruzzese, 22, was Toronto’s fourth-round pick(124th overall) in 2019 and is currently leading the Crimson with 21 points (5 goals, 16 assists) in 13 games and the NCAA with 1.62 points-per-game. Knies, 19, scored a goal for Team USA in the recently postponed 2022 IIHF World Junior in Edmonton and is averaging a point-per-game (7 goals, 13 assists in 20 games) for the Golden Gophers.
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Just as the Leafs thought they were going to be at full strength with the return of Mitch Marner and Pierre Engvall, the club announced that Justin Holl, Ondrej Kase, and Nick Ritchie have been placed in the NHL's COVID protocol. Marner and Engvall traveled to Arizona and joined the club for practice on Friday, and are expected to play in St. Louis against the Blues on Saturday.
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