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Maple Leafs Recall Alex Steeves

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The Maple Leafs announced they’ve recalled forward Alex Steeves from AHL Toronto under emergency conditions ahead of tonight’s contest against the Senators. The news confirms that captain Auston Matthews will not be coming off injured reserve after being labeled doubtful by head coach Craig Berube yesterday.

They still would have had 12 forwards available without Matthews since Connor Dewar came off long-term injured reserve last Friday. Thus, Steeves’ recall indicates that Max Domi or William Nylander could be questionable for tonight after missing Monday’s practice for maintenance days.

Steeves, 25 next month, was an undrafted free agent signing out of Notre Dame in March 2021. He’s suited up mainly in the AHL since then, but he has a few NHL appearances under his belt and has played at least one game in the last three seasons. The 6’0″ New Hampshire native has one assist, a -4 rating, 10 hits, and six giveaways in seven career games. He’s recorded six shots on goal and averaged 8:14 per game.

Steeves, who can play center and wing, has grown into a prolific AHL scoring force despite his lack of NHL point production. He recorded a career-high 27 goals and 57 points in 67 games for the Marlies last season, and he leads the club in scoring through the early going of 2024-25 with nine goals and three assists for 12 points in 10 games.

The Maple Leafs had an open roster spot after placing Max Pacioretty on IR on Monday, so no corresponding transaction is required. Toronto’s $1.83MM in current cap space under their LTIR pool is plenty to absorb Steeves’ $775K cap hit, per PuckPedia.

Steeves had his first go-around with restricted free agency this past summer after his entry-level contract expired. He waited until August to re-sign but eventually put pen to paper on a one-year, two-way deal ($775K/$300K) to return to the Maple Leafs organization. Since he’ll be 25 next summer with fewer than 80 NHL games played and four professional seasons under his belt, he’ll be eligible to test unrestricted free agency via Group VI status.

Atlantic Notes: Sabres, Maple Leafs, Senators

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The Buffalo Sabres used both rostered goaltenders in a tough loss to the Montreal Canadiens earlier today. After the game, Bill Hoppe of the Buffalo Times-Herald passed a note from head coach Lindy Ruff indicating Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen suffered an ’ailment’ in yesterday’s practice before Luukkonen’s game descended further.

The injury concern didn’t end there for Buffalo as the team announced Tage Thompson and Mattias Samuelsson had left the game due to upper-body injuries. Samuelsson, whom the team had made a healthy scratch for the last three games, only managed 6:49 of today’s contest.

No further updates were made regarding the status of the injured players but the Sabres are again heading in a negative direction. Despite making a head coaching change and overhauling the bottom-six forward group this past offseason, Buffalo has a 7-8-1 record through 16 games and has given up the second-most goals of any team in the Atlantic Division.

Other Atlantic Notes:

  • According to David Alter of The Hockey News, it’s trending toward a fourth-straight missed game for Auston Matthews. The franchise icon hasn’t missed this many games in a row since the 2022-23 NHL season and the Toronto Maple Leafs hope it doesn’t extend further. To add insult to injury, Alter further added that forward Calle Jarnkrok experienced a setback in his recovery from a sports hernia and he’s now headed to New York to see a specialist. Jarnkrok hasn’t skated put together a full season since the 2022-23 campaign and it appears this year may be more of the same.
  • Nearly 250 miles northeast in Ottawa, the Senators are experiencing better luck on the injury front of late. Shane Pinto, who hasn’t played since October 22nd after scoring three points in his first six contests, could be an option for the team tomorrow night (X Link). If Pinto can’t go, the team announced the call-up of Zack Ostapchuk from their AHL affiliate, the Belleville Senators, to fill out the rest of their forward core.

Atlantic Notes: Byram, Matthews, Jarnkrok, Gadjovich

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With the Sabres struggling out of the gate, it appears that some teams are kicking the tires to see if a core piece could be pried away.  TSN’s Darren Dreger reported earlier this week on Sekeres and Price (video link) that some teams from the West have inquired about defenseman Bowen Byram although Buffalo has been informing teams he’s not available.  Byram is in his first full season with the Sabres after being acquired at the trade deadline from Colorado and he’s certainly off to a solid start with nine points in 14 games while logging over 21 minutes a night.  A pending restricted free agent, Byram will be in line for a significant raise on his current $3.85MM AAV next summer.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews skated today for 25 minutes with no signs of discomfort, relays TSN’s Mark Masters (Twitter link). Toronto moved him to injured reserve on Friday, making him ineligible for tonight’s game against Montreal but he is eligible to return Tuesday versus Ottawa.  Assuming Matthews is cleared to play in that game, the Maple Leafs will have to make a roster move beforehand, likely a waiver placement as things stand, to open up a roster spot.
  • Still with Toronto, head coach Craig Berube told reporters including Nick Barden of The Hockey News that winger Calle Jarnkrok is “probably a ways away” from making his season debut. The 33-year-old is dealing with a lower-body injury that’s believed to be a sports hernia.  Jarnkrok skated before practice a couple of times this week but it looks like he’s still not particularly close to being cleared to play.  Jarnkrok had 10 goals and 11 assists in 52 games for the Maple Leafs last season.
  • The Panthers will welcome back winger Jonah Gadjovich to the lineup tonight against Philadelphia, the team announced (Twitter link). The 26-year-old has missed the last three weeks with a back injury.  Gadjovich has played in six games so far this season, notching a goal and 26 hits while averaging just 7:25 per night on the fourth line; he leads the league in hits/60.  Mackie Samoskevich will come out of the lineup to make room for Gadjovich’s return.

Maple Leafs Place Auston Matthews On IR, Activate Connor Dewar

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The Maple Leafs have moved Auston Matthews to injured reserve with his upper-body injury retroactive to Nov. 3, the team announced. They’re using the open spot to reinstate forward Connor Dewar from his LTIR conditioning loan and add him to the active roster.

The IR placement only minimally affects Matthews’ timeline for a return. Head coach Craig Berube already told reporters that the superstar would miss his second straight game tonight against the Red Wings and that he was doubtful for tomorrow’s game against the Canadiens. He’s now been ruled out against Montreal thanks to the move to IR but could return for Tuesday’s matchup against the Senators. He’ll miss at least three games in total with the ailment, which he’s been playing through for a good chunk of the season.

Meanwhile, Dewar was one of two players for the Leafs in the AHL on LTIR conditioning stints. They assigned both he and defenseman Jani Hakanpää to the minors at the beginning of the month as they each got their feet back under them after offseason surgeries – in Dewar’s case, a shoulder procedure. LTIR conditioning stints can only last up to three games or six days, and the time constraint ends today. The lack of news regarding Hakanpää indicates he’s not entirely cleared to return to full-time action and will remain on LTIR for a tad longer.

Matthews’ IR placement buys the Leafs a little bit of time, but they’ll still need to make a roster move when the captain is ready to return next week and another one when Hakanpää is eventually ready to play. They have $1.83MM left in their LTIR pool after today’s transactions with Hakanpää, Calle Järnkrok and Dakota Mermis still on the list.

In his lone appearance on his conditioning stint, Dewar had a goal and an assist in what amounted to his first AHL action since the 2021-22 campaign. Acquired from the Wild at last season’s trade deadline, Dewar had a goal and four assists in 17 games for Toronto down the stretch and avoided arbitration over the summer with a one-year, $1.18MM settlement.

The high-energy 5’10” forward can play both center and wing and was a fixture on the Leafs’ penalty kill to close out 2023-24, averaging nearly two-and-a-half minutes per game shorthanded. He’s projected to serve as a healthy scratch against Detroit tonight while Steven Lorentz, David Kämpf and Ryan Reaves remain in fourth-line roles, but he could get a chance to play against the Habs tomorrow.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Pinto, Lyon

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Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (upper body) remains unavailable for Friday’s home game versus the Red Wings, as head coach Craig Berube told David Alter of The Hockey News.

Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun reported earlier today that Matthews did not participate in this morning’s optional skate. Berube added that Matthews’ recovery is “going in the right direction,” although he also remains doubtful for Saturday’s game against the Canadiens as Toronto closes out a back-to-back. In all likelihood, it appears the captain’s absence will last three games and he’ll return Tuesday against the Senators.

A few more injury-related notes from around the Atlantic:

  • Senators center Shane Pinto (undisclosed) could return Saturday in Boston after missing over two weeks, head coach Travis Green told TSN 1200 Ottawa. The club was without No. 1 pivot Tim Stützle in practice today, but that was only due to a black eye he sustained in yesterday’s loss to the Senators and he won’t miss any time. Pinto had a goal and two assists through his first six games of the season before exiting the lineup.
  • Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon, who was slated to start tonight’s matchup in Toronto, is instead on the shelf with a minor lower-body injury that he sustained in practice Thursday, head coach Derek Lalonde relayed to FanDuel Sports Network Detroit’s Daniella Bruce. His absence explains the recall of Ville Husso from AHL Grand Rapids earlier today under emergency conditions. He’ll back up while Cam Talbot starts his third straight game. Lalonde is “not overly concerned about [Lyon’s injury] being long term,” Bruce said.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Point, Gadjovich

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Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews didn’t practice or skate with the team today and is questionable to play this weekend. He’s been battling an upper-body injury for much of the week and didn’t play in the team’s most recent matchup against the Boston Bruins a few days ago.

Jonas Siegel of The Athletic provided a quote about Matthews’ availability earlier from head coach Craig Berube saying, “That’s to be determined still. It’s hard for me to answer that question knowing what I know right now with him today.” The Maple Leafs have back-to-back matchups against Original Six rivals this weekend in the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens.

Although Toronto is objectively better with Matthews in the lineup it appears the team is taking a more measured approach to his recovery. The American superstar has five goals and 11 points through 13 games to start the campaign and the Maple Leafs are looking to be safer than sorry with their leader.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • The Tampa Bay Lightning are again without their first-line center Brayden Point this evening as they face off against the Philadelphia Flyers. Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider reported earlier that Point is still out with a lower-body injury although he did resume skating this morning. It will be the second straight missed game for Point after starting the season with eight goals and 13 points in 12 contests.
  • Heading southeast to Sunrise, Florida, Colby Guy of the Associated Press confirmed there are no lineup changes for the Florida Panthers tonight meaning forward Jonah Gadjovich won’t return to the ice. Gadjovich hasn’t played since October 17th due to a back injury. The physical bottom-six presence should pick up where he left off before the injury as he’s collected a whopping 26 hits in only six games in the current campaign.

Auston Matthews Out Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury

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Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is out with an upper-body injury and will miss tonight’s contest against the Bruins, the team announced. He’ll be evaluated daily and hasn’t been ruled out for Friday’s game against the Red Wings.

It’s unclear when Matthews sustained the injury. In all likelihood, it’s something he’s been playing through for at least a couple of games, or it was sustained off-ice. He logged over 22 minutes in Sunday’s overtime loss to the Wild and didn’t miss a shift.

If the injury is something he’s been playing through, it could be part of the explanation for why the 27-year-old is off to a sluggish start by his standards. With five goals in 13 games, he’s tied with John Tavares for third on the team and has been out-scored by Matthew Knies (six) and William Nylander (nine). In overall scoring, he’s tied with Tavares for third on the team with 11 points behind Nylander (13) and Mitch Marner (14). Those numbers put him on pace for just 32 goals and 69 points over a full season.

It’s not for a lack of trying, though. Matthews is shooting an unsustainably low 8.9% by his standards. His previous career-low was 12.2%, set in 2022-23 when he still managed 40 goals. He currently leads the league with 56 shots on goal, on pace to sit atop the NHL in that stat for the third time in his nine-year career.

Outside of the surprisingly low goal and point totals, it’s been business as usual for Matthews. The newly-minted captain of the Maple Leafs remains one of the best two-way centers in the league. He’s averaged nearly 21 minutes per game, won 55.6% of his draws, and is controlling a team-high 57.3% of shot attempts when on the ice at even strength. Among the 14 forward lines in the NHL to play at least 100 minutes together this season, Matthews’ unit with Knies and Marner ranks third with a 63.6% expected goals share, per MoneyPuck.

In Matthews’ absence, Max Domi will slide up from the third line to center the top line, per Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. Pontus Holmberg will return to the lineup and replace Domi as third-line center after serving as a healthy scratch in Minnesota, relays Jonas Siegel of The Athletic. Head coach Craig Berube hopes the temporary promotion can help jumpstart Domi, who’s yet to score a goal this season and only has 15 shots in 13 appearances, a rate that’s down sharply from his 137 SOG in 80 games last season.

The Leafs don’t have room to make a corresponding recall for Matthews without placing him on injured reserve. Doing so retroactive to Sunday would also rule him out of Friday and Saturday’s home back-to-back against the Red Wings and Canadiens, meaning he’d miss a minimum of three games with the injury.

Matthews is in the first season of the four-year, $53MM extension he inked in August 2023. He carries a cap hit of $13.25MM, currently the highest in the league.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Atlantic Notes: Matthews, Järnkrok, Dahlin, Ullmark, Eliasson

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Maple Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and Calle Järnkrok remain absent from practice Wednesday after they were given injury designations by the club yesterday, per Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star.

Matthews’ ailment appears to be the most minor of minor injuries. He’s not listed as day-to-day by the club, which instead said he’s out for maintenance today. Head coach Craig Berube said Tuesday that he’d sustained a minor upper-body injury that caused him to leave practice early, but that there wasn’t much cause for concern.

Järnkrok, meanwhile, is still listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury and is still a little bit away from returning. Both should be considered doubtful for Thursday’s preseason match against the Canadiens at this stage, especially for a game with no standings implications.

More news and notes from around the Atlantic Division:

  • Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin is with his teammates in Germany today and has shed his non-contact jersey ahead of Friday’s exhibition game against EHC Munich, the team said. He’s been held out of preseason action thus far after sustaining an undisclosed injury one week ago. It appears he’ll be ready to go for the overseas contest later this week, and should be all systems go for their regular season opener against the Devils in Prague in nine days.
  • Senators goalie Linus Ullmark is back at practice Wednesday, per Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. He was held out of practice for the past couple of days while battling an undisclosed injury. He could be an option to play in Thursday’s home game against the Sabres’ B-squad, Garrioch added.
  • Still with Ottawa, they now know where 2024 second-round pick Gabriel Eliasson will play this season. After being cut from their training camp roster earlier this week, the Swedish defenseman’s major junior rights were picked up by the OHL’s Barrie Colts today in a trade with the Niagara IceDogs. The hulking 6’7″, 216-lb 18-year-old is expected to sign a scholarship and development agreement and report to the Colts for his first season in North America after spending the last two seasons in his native Sweden in HV71’s junior system.

Maple Leafs Notes: Matthews, Jarnkrok, Lorentz, Clifford

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Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews sustained a minor upper-body injury during practice Tuesday, head coach Craig Berube said (via The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel). He wasn’t slated to play in tonight’s preseason contest against the Sens anyway, and his absence isn’t expected to stretch into regular-season play.

It’s not a particularly auspicious start for the star centerman, who’s led the league in goals in three of the last four seasons. Last season’s career-high 69 were the most by any player since Mario Lemieux in 1995-96.

One of the league’s most well-rounded players, the 27-year-old Matthews finished fourth in Hart Trophy and third in Selke Trophy voting in 2023-24. He scored and had a +1 rating in Toronto’s 6-5 overtime loss to Ottawa on Sunday.

Other injury updates out of Toronto:

  • Versatile depth forward Calle Järnkrok is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury, the team told David Alter of The Hockey News. Various injuries limited Järnkrok, who turns 33 on Wednesday, to 52 appearances last season, recording 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points. He’s entering the third season of the four-year, $8.4MM contract he signed with Toronto in free agency in 2022.
  • Camp invite Steven Lorentz and AHL depth piece Kyle Clifford were back on the ice today after missing brief sections of camp with upper-body injuries, per Alter. It’s a crucial step for the 28-year-old Lorentz, who’s looking to earn a contract and a roster spot in Toronto after playing a depth role for the Stanley Cup-winning Panthers last season. A fourth-line piece at most, he had three points and a -9 rating in 38 games for Florida. Clifford, 33, is signed with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies this season after posting 28 points in 53 games there last year.

Canadian Notes: Matthews, Konyushkov, Lekkerimäki

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The Toronto Maple Leafs began discussions of changing captains around the time of this season’s exit interviews, following the team’s perennial first-round loss to the Boston Bruins, shared TSN’s Chris Johnston on SportsCentre. Johnston added that conversations continued through the summer until John Tavares reached a point where he was comfortable handing off the leadership role to Auston Matthews. A formal announcement is expected to come on Wednesday morning.

Matthews – the undisputed star of the modern Leafs – will adorn the ’C’ after serving five seasons as one of the team’s alternate captains. He received that honor ahead of his fourth season in the NHL, after posting 111 goals and 205 points through his first 212 career games, including the NHL’s first 40-goal rookie season since Alex Ovechkin managed 52 in 2006. He’s reached even greater heights since donning a letter, scoring 60 goals in 2021-22 and 69 goals this season – becoming just the eighth NHLer to break the 60-goal ceiling more than once. He’ll look to continue stamping his place among the NHL’s legends with another boost of confidence from the Toronto brass – taking over the chair of leader in a year of changes for the Leafs, headlined by Craig Berube’s hiring as head coach.

Other notes from across the Great North:

  • The Montreal Canadiens haven’t had much contact with defense prospect Bogdan Konyushkov since his fourth-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft, instead leaving him in the capable hands of Igor Larionov, a three-time Stanley Cup winner and the head coach of the KHL’s HC Torpedo, where Konyushkov has played since 2022. The player summed up his current state of affairs to Daria Tuboltseva of Russian news outlet Responsible Gaming, saying, “We don’t communicate with Montreal very often. I spoke with the Russian scout after the season once, we just chatted, and they asked me how my season went.” He continued by speaking on a shoulder injury that required surgery after the season. Konyushkov still managed a commendable 28 points in 65 games despite injury and even served as Torpedo’s captain, despite being only 21-years-old. He’s a promising player with exciting years ahead, though he’s shared he’ll first play out the remaining two years on his KHL contract.
  • Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin had a productive sit down with David Quadrelli of the Canucks Army where he, among other things, shared that the team doesn’t want to rush top propsect Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Allvin said, “It will be interesting to see [Lekkerimäki] at camp when everything kicks off. After that, it’s up to him where he will end up… We need to respect his age and experience as well, so there’s no rush—when he is physically and mentally ready, Jonathan will show where he wants to be.” Lekkerimäki will be one of many Canucks prospects vying for a top role after winning the SHL’s ’Rookie of the Year’ award last season with 31 points in 46 games.

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