Maple Leafs Activate Brandon Carlo From Injured Reserve
5:00 p.m.: Toronto officially announced Carlo’s activation, assigning Marshall Rifai to AHL Toronto instead as the corresponding move. McCabe remains on the active roster.
11:44 a.m.: The Maple Leafs will reinstate defenseman Brandon Carlo from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s game against the Panthers, head coach Craig Berube told reporters (including David Alter of The Hockey News). Toronto will need to make a corresponding move, although with fellow rearguard Jake McCabe injured and likely to miss a week with a lower-body injury, he’ll likely take Carlo’s IR spot.
The Leafs have been without Carlo for the majority of the season. Back on Nov. 13 against the Kings, he blocked a shot with his foot that knocked him out of the lineup. He was initially listed as day-to-day but sustained a setback in early December that resulted in surgery. He was expected back sometime in mid-January, so today’s activation comes ahead of schedule.
Yesterday, Berube clarified that Carlo’s setback was an infection in his ankle that had impacted initial recovery (per Anna Dua of Sportsnet). That stemmed from a left ankle fracture he had with the Bruins in 2018, so his recent procedure also addressed that clean-up.
While he’s been gone, the club has gained some ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but not much. They’re 11-7-5 in 23 games without him after starting 8-8-2. They’re only four points out of a spot, but their 19-15-7 record on the whole is still third-worst in the conference amid a tightly-packed picture.
With other injuries continuing to mount on Toronto’s blue line, the importance of Carlo’s return can’t be overstated. The big shutdown D wasn’t off to the best start, only controlling 42.8% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 with two assists through 18 games, but he’s a big part of the Leafs’ penalty kill and averages 20 minutes per game. With the Leafs’ top shutdown pair of McCabe and Chris Tanev out of the lineup, Carlo returning to be a stabilizing factor alongside Morgan Rielly will help them avoid overtaxing overutilized depth options like Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers.
Maple Leafs Place William Nylander On IR, Recall Marshall Rifai
The Maple Leafs placed right winger William Nylander on injured reserve Monday, according to a team announcement. The placement is retroactive to Dec. 27, so he is eligible for activation at any time. Nylander’s roster spot will go to defenseman Marshall Rifai, whom the team said has been recalled from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
Nylander has now missed four games since sustaining a lower-body injury against the Senators nine days ago. He’s back on the ice and skated Monday, David Alter of The Hockey News reports, but he will presumably miss at least one more game.
Toronto has not lost in regulation during Nylander’s latest absence, collecting six out of eight possible points with a 2-0-2 record. The 29-year-old previously missed four games in October and November due to a lower-body injury and an illness, limiting his season total to 33 appearances.
Despite the recurring inavailability, Nylander’s 27 assists and 41 points still sit atop the Leafs’ leaderboard. He’s also been Toronto’s best finisher at 20.6% (min. 50 shots on goal).
Rifai’s recall indicates there’s legitimate concern about Jake McCabe‘s status for Tuesday’s clash with the Panthers. Head coach Craig Berube said after Saturday’s overtime loss to the Islanders that McCabe would need to undergo evaluation for an undisclosed injury he sustained in the third period (via Alter).
The fact that Nylander, instead of McCabe, is landing on IR to make room for the Leafs to add another defenseman likely isn’t an indicator of the latter’s return timeline one way or another. There’s simply added roster flexibility by placing someone who’s already missed more than a week on IR, removing any potential restrictions on activation.
Rifai, 27, only recently got his season underway with the Marlies after needing wrist surgery due to a preseason injury. In five games, the 6’2″ lefty has recorded two assists with eight penalty minutes and a +2 rating.
The Quebec native only has two NHL games to his name and none since February 2024, but that could change tomorrow if the Leafs opt to continue playing lefty Oliver Ekman-Larsson on his off side while keeping righty Philippe Myers in the press box. Myers was scratched for the first time in several days against the Islanders after posting two assists and a -8 rating in 21 appearances this year.
Maple Leafs Reassign Marshall Rifai, Henry Thrun
Dec. 29th: According to Frank Seravalli, Rifai has made it through waivers unscathed. Although an official update has yet to come from the Maple Leafs, it’s expected that Rifai will be reassigned to AHL Toronto at some point today.
Dec. 28th: The Maple Leafs placed defenseman Marshall Rifai on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Toronto on Sunday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Earlier in the day, the club also announced it’d reassigned defenseman Henry Thrun to the AHL.
Rifai has been on long-term injured reserve since the beginning of the campaign after requiring wrist surgery as a result of a preseason injury. He began skating earlier this month and was initially assigned to the AHL on a long-term injury conditioning stint on Dec. 18, a move that does not require waivers. Now that the roster freeze has lifted, though, the Leafs had to either activate him today or initiate waiver proceedings.
While his conditioning stint began over a week ago, his only appearance came just yesterday against the Utica Comets. The 27-year-old lefty took a minor penalty and had a +1 rating with one shot on goal.
The 6’2″, 211-lb Rifai is now in his fourth season with the Leafs organization. Signed as an undrafted free agent out of Harvard in 2022, he quickly impressed in the minors as a high-end physical shutdown piece and made his NHL debut in 2023-24.
Despite signing a two-year, one-way, $1.55MM extension last year, those two NHL games back in February 2024 stand as the only ones on his career ledger. He’s slotted anywhere between No. 8 and 10 on Toronto’s organizational defensive depth chart for a few years now and has been recalled on multiple occasions to serve as a healthy extra when needed, but it hasn’t resulted in much playing time.
With an excess of left shots on the Leafs’ roster, the path to NHL playing time won’t get much wider for Rifai anytime soon, either. Instead, the Quebec native will look to get his feet under him this season in a familiar AHL environment.
As for Thrun, his demotion is long overdue. Toronto had been operating over the roster limit since activating Chris Tanev from injured reserve on Tuesday. With the freeze lifted today, they can get back to 23 players by returning Thrun to the Marlies.
Acquired from the Sharks last summer for Ryan Reaves, Thrun passed through waivers at the beginning of the year and remained with the AHL club until Dec. 10, when the Leafs summoned him in place of the injured Dakota Mermis. He played in four straight to begin his recall before being scratched for Toronto’s last four. In his stint in the lineup, he posted a -1 rating while averaging 14:52 per game.
Maple Leafs Assign Marshall Rifai To AHL On Conditioning Loan
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced today that defenseman Marshall Rifai has been assigned to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, on a conditioning loan.
Rifai has spent the entirety of this season so far on long-term injured reserve after undergoing wrist surgery in September. He sustained the injury during a preseason contest against the Montreal Canadiens. The 27-year-old didn’t play any NHL games in 2024-25, but was looking to make a push for consideration to land on the NHL roster this year. His injury stopped him from making his case in preseason and training camp, but now he appears to be nearing a return to full health.
Rifai will be able to spend up to 14 days or five games, whichever comes first, on this conditioning loan. For Rifai to be eligible for reassignment to the Marlies on a permanent basis, he will need to clear waivers.
The 6’2″, 211-pound defenseman was an undrafted signing out of Harvard University that Toronto made in 2022. He scored 16 points and logged 118 penalty minutes in his AHL rookie campaign in 2022-23 and earned his first two NHL games in 2023-24, the only two NHL games of his career thus far.
While Toronto has had to deal with several defensive injuries so far in 2025-26, it’s unclear whether those absences will be enough to secure Rifai a spot on the NHL roster. Given his level of experience thus far, it feels as though the far likelier outcome is that he lands on waivers for reassignment to the Marlies permanently.
The fact that Rifai is signed to a one-way $775K AAV contract with an additional year of term on it does make it likelier that, in the event that he is waived, he’ll be able to clear.
While a team such as the Maple Leafs, who are one of the most deep-pocketed teams in the NHL, can afford to pay NHL salaries to key AHL call-up options, other clubs simply don’t have the same level of financial muscle and therefore are more frugal when it comes to expenditures on AHL players.
This impacts a team’s ability to protect its waiver-eligible depth from claims by rival teams, as players with a lower financial commitment required are often seen as more suitable, low-risk candidates to be claimed on waivers.
To illustrate this reality, one can take a look at the nearby Buffalo Sabres, as there is a clear comparable defenseman to Rifai: former Quinnipiac Bobcat Zach Metsa. Like Rifai, Metsa is also a 27-year-old undrafted player who signed out of the NCAA. While Rifai has an additional full year of AHL experience, which does matter, Metsa did have a notably superior college career. He captained Quinnipiac to a national championship and won numerous individual honors.
Both Metsa and Rifai are playing on two-year extensions and spent all of 2024-25 in the AHL; Metsa scored 46 points in 69 games as a two-way blueliner while Rifai scored 13 points in 63 games as more of a defensively-oriented, physical blueliner.
Despite their generally comparable levels of experience and Metsa’s arguably more pronounced level of on-ice value in the AHL, Rifai earned a one-way deal in each year of his extension, while Metsa got a two-way structure on his extension.
Metsa’s deal pays him $250K at the AHL level in its first year and has a $325K guarantee for 2026-27. Rifai, as mentioned, will make $775K per year over the course of his deal, regardless of what level he is rostered at.
There are some notable differences between the two players, to be clear, and one could make the argument that Rifai’s play style is more in line with what a team might be looking for out of a call-up option. But the differences in their levels of compensation do nonetheless serve as a useful illustration of the unique financial muscle the Maple Leafs are able to flex to help them build organizational depth.
While the NHL salary cap does limit player expenditure at the highest level, Rifai is an example of how a wealthier team can leverage its deeper pockets to create team-building advantages for itself on the margins.
As a result, if Toronto does end up waiving Rifai at some point down the line now that he is nearing a return from injury, the contract they gave him will most likely contribute to him clearing.
Atlantic Notes: Bruins, Maple Leafs, Tinordi
Unless something changes, the Boston Bruins will return their two top performers on their upcoming road trip. After an update from Steve Conroy of The Boston Herald, indicating that Charlie McAvoy shed the non-contact jersey for today’s practice, Conor Ryan of The Boston Globe reported that both McAvoy and David Pastrňák are expected to return over the next few days.
Even getting one of McAvoy or Pastrňák back would be a major boost to the Bruins. After McAvoy exited the lineup on November 15th after gruesomely taking a puck to the face, the team has gone 5-5-0. It’s been a little better without Pastrňák, as they’ve gone 3-2-0 in their last five.
Still, considering that Boston has unexpectedly moved into second place in the Atlantic Division, the team will want to have McAvoy and Pastrňák in the lineup as much as possible to qualify for a postseason spot. The Bruins are only two points removed from being out of a playoff spot, and have played more games than multiple teams in the Eastern Conference. Considering how wide-open the playoff race is this season, Boston has a legitimate opportunity to reach the postseason again, and McAvoy and Pastrňák will surely play a large role in that.
Other notes from the Atlantic Division:
- Moving to Toronto, the Maple Leafs may also return a pair of injured players in the next few days. According to David Alter of The Hockey News, defenseman Chris Tanev is no longer skating in a non-contact jersey. Additionally, Alter reported similarly on defenseman Marshall Rifai, who has also shed his non-contact jersey. Tanev has missed much of the 2025-26 campaign due to an upper-body injury, and his absence has played a significant role in the Maple Leafs allowing over 31 shots a game from their opponents.
- Former first-round pick Jarred Tinordi has found his way back to professional hockey for a 14th consecutive season. Earlier today, the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch announced they have signed Tinordi to a contract for the remainder of the 2025-26 campaign. Tinordi, 33, spent last season with the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers, scoring one goal and five points in 30 games with a +5 rating.
Atlantic Notes: Maple Leafs, Lightning, Pinto
While Joseph Woll landed on injured reserve today, the hope is that he will only miss the minimum of seven days, notes Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link). Woll had been used quite heavily by the Maple Leafs since returning from a leave of absence, making eight starts in nine games and did well, posting a 2.44 GAA and a .923 SV%. With Anthony Stolarz not close to returning, it appears Toronto has dodged the worst-case scenario when it comes to their other netminder.
Meanwhile, a pair of injured blueliners took part in today’s morning skate as Nick Barden of The Hockey News mentions that Chris Tanev and Marshall Rifai both participated in non-contact jerseys. Tanev has missed more than a month with an upper-body injury after briefly returning from an upper-body injury and head coach Craig Berube hopes that Tanev will be able to get him more involved in practice over the next week. Rifai, meanwhile, has yet to play this season after suffering a wrist injury in the preseason. Both players are currently on LTIR.
Elsewhere around the Atlantic:
- While the Lightning will get one of their stars back tonight, they’ll be without two others. Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times relays that goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and winger Nikita Kucherov are listed as day-to-day with undisclosed injuries. Tampa Bay was hoping to have Vasilevskiy back after missing Thursday’s game but that won’t be the case, meaning Jonas Johansson will get the start once again. Meanwhile, it’s unclear as to what Kucherov’s injury is as well but he played over 25 minutes on Thursday against Pittsburgh so it’s something he was evidently able to play through at some point in the game.
- The Senators have placed center Shane Pinto on injured reserve, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, who adds that Pinto is expected to miss two weeks and likely more, suggesting that a return after the holiday break may be more realistic. The open roster spot was used to recall Hayden Hodgson earlier today. The 25-year-old got off to a strong start to his season and has 12 goals in 27 games along with a four-year, $30MM contract extension that begins in 2026-27.
East Injury Updates: Miller, Quick, Maple Leafs
As the New York Rangers attempt to spark a push up the Eastern Conference standings tonight during their game against the St. Louis Blues, they’ll need to do so without the on-ice help of captain J.T. Miller. Newsday’s Colin Stephenson reported today that Miller remains out with an upper-body injury on a day-to-day timeline. While the injury appears highly unlikely to keep Miller out of action for very long, it is a discouraging development nonetheless in what has been a troubling start to the season for both Miller and the Rangers as a whole. The Rangers traded two promising young players in Filip Chytil and Victor Mancini, as well as a first-round pick, to the Vancouver Canucks to acquire Miller, and at the time the move seemed easily defensible as Miller had very recently scored 37 goals and 103 points. Centers capable of that level of production are very rarely made available, and since the Rangers already had a cornerstone defenseman (Adam Fox) and franchise goalie (Igor Shesterkin), paying that price to add a true number-one center was seen as a “win” for the team.
But since Miller has arrived in New York, he’s only been able to match the level of play he set in Vancouver on a sporadic basis. Miller scored a solid 35 points in 32 games last season, but the Rangers failed to reach the playoffs. So far this year, Miller has struggled to produce as consistently, and has just 12 points in 22 games. That’s a 45-point 82-game pace. For a player making $8MM against the cap with the clear expectation to be a leading scorer on a playoff team, that’s simply not enough production for the Rangers to get where they want to go as a team. While this injury will sideline Miller for a short while, it won’t rob him of his chance to turn around his season whenever he recovers and returns to the ice. For the Rangers to restore their status as true Stanley Cup contenders, a status they lived up to by reaching two Eastern Conference Finals in three seasons, they’ll need Miller healthy and firing on all cylinders.
Other injury notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Stephenson also reported that veteran Rangers backup goalie Jonathan Quick has a lower-body injury and is still being evaluated. While the Rangers have a young, capable No. 3 goalie in their organization in the form of Dylan Garand, who was an AHL All-Star last season, any extended absence faced by Quick would damage the Rangers’ ability to turn around their season. Through six games played this year, Quick has turned back the clock, putting forward performances reminiscent of his prime years backstopping the Los Angeles Kings to Stanley Cup championships. Quick is 3-3-0 in his six starts with a .944 save percentage and 1.69 goals-against-average. While he’s 39 years old and a pending UFA, he’s making the case to remain the Rangers’ backup for next season with his form early in 2025-26. His current lower-body injury threatens the momentum he’s built so far this year, though, and the Rangers are likely hoping his absence is a brief one.
- Toronto Maple Leafs blueliners Chris Tanev and Marshall Rifai were on the ice before practice today, according to The Hockey News’ Nick Barden. Tanev, 35, hasn’t played since he was helped off the ice in the team’s Nov. 1 game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Tanev remains without a firm recovery timeline, though he is not expected to return anytime soon. Rifai, 27, has spent most of his time in the Maple Leafs organization at the AHL level, save for two games in 2023-24. He’s working his way back from wrist surgery and will likely be assigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies whenever his recovery concludes.
Maple Leafs’ Marshall Rifai Needs Wrist Surgery
Maple Leafs depth defenseman Marshall Rifai will miss some significant time after sustaining a wrist injury in last night’s exhibition win over the Canadiens. Head coach Craig Berube told reporters today, including Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun, that he requires surgery with no specific return timeline.
Speculatively, it’s a right wrist issue for Rifai. He was held out for the second and third periods of the game and took a hard hit into the glass from Montreal forward Joshua Roy midway through the first (video via Michael Mazzei of The Leafs Nation).
Rifai only had a slim chance at breaking camp with Toronto, which has avoided any other notable injuries on defense, but that’s now gone. Their top six group is set in stone, which meant Rifai was in competition with more experienced names like Henry Thrun, Philippe Myers, and Dakota Mermis for a press-box role. All of those three are waiver-eligible, and at least one – likely two – will need to hit the wire with a surplus of NHL forwards on the Leafs’ roster. With them only expected to carry one extra blueliner, the odds were far from being in Rifai’s favor.
Nonetheless, he’s a depth talent the organization likes to have around. The 27-year-old was an undrafted free agent signed out of Harvard in 2022 and has been a frequent standout in training camp, although he only has two regular-season appearances to his name, coming back in 2023-24. He was recalled a handful of times last season but never got into game action. He’s beginning a two-year, league-minimum, one-way extension that he signed at the beginning of last season, so he’s at least in line for an NHL-caliber payday despite most of his playing action coming in the minors.
Since he’s signed to a one-way deal, the 6’2″ lefty is not SOIR/non-roster eligible. He’ll need to begin the year on regular injured reserve, meaning his $775K cap hit will count against the Leafs’ books unless he misses enough time (10 games/24 days) to be eligible for long-term injured reserve. After being cleared to play, he can then be placed on waivers and reassigned to AHL Toronto if he clears.
Injury Notes: Dobson, Reinbacher, Guhle, Rifai, Anderson
Things are not going well for the Montreal Canadiens’ defense in their preseason contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening. After failing to appear on the bench for the third period of tonight’s game, the Canadiens announced that recently acquired Noah Dobson will not return, without specifying any injuries.
Shortly after, Senior Editor of RG Media, Marco D’Amico, shared that defenseman David Reinbacher had also gone to the dressing room with an apparent injury. Each of these injuries comes on the heels of Sportsnet’s Eric Engels report from earlier, that defenseman Kaiden Guhle was held out of tonight’s contest for maintenance purposes.
In all fairness, there were no specific injuries alluded to in any of the updates, and teams are quicker to pull players in preseason due to precautionary reasons. Still, it is cause for some concern as Montreal ramps up for the 2025-26 campaign. Despite earning a playoff spot last season, the Canadiens learned there’s little wiggle room in postseason eligibility in the Atlantic Division. Fortunately, even if there are mild injury concerns to start the new season, the Canadiens only have two matchups against postseason teams from a year ago in October.
Additional injury notes:
- On the flip side of tonight’s contest, the Maple Leafs are also dealing with injury concerns on their blue line. During the game, Toronto announced that Marshall Rifai was removed due to an upper-body injury. Unlike his opponent counterparts, it was unlikely that Rifai would have cracked the Maple Leafs’ opening night roster regardless of availability. The Beaconsfield, Quebec native spent all of last year with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, scoring three goals and 13 points in 67 contests.
- Moving to another Original Six organization, any chance for the Chicago Blackhawks to gauge forward Joey Anderson‘s potential for a depth role has passed. Earlier today, Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio reported that Anderson underwent a procedure for a chronic issue, which will cost him the rest of the preseason. Despite playing in 18 games for the Blackhawks last year, Anderson had long odds of making Chicago’s opening night roster, spending much of last season as an assistant captain with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.
Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Fourteen Black Aces
Now that the AHL’s Toronto Marlies season has ended at the hands of the Cleveland Monsters, the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to recall several players for their playoff run. As announced by the team, the recalled players are as follows:
F Nicholas Abruzzese
D Matt Benning
G Dennis Hildeby
F Roni Hirvonen
F Reese Johnson
D Mikko Kokkonen
G Matt Murray
F Alexander Nylander
D Topi Niemelä
F Jacob Quillan
D Marshall Rifai
F Alex Steeves
D William Villeneuve
D Cade Webber
There will certainly be a concrete pecking order should the Maple Leafs fall into any injury trouble during their postseason run. Steeves, Nylander, and Abruzzese should get the call for forwards, while Villeneuve and Murray will lead their respective positions.
Steeves recently recorded the first point-per-game season of his career. Leading all Marlies players, Steeves scored 36 goals and 62 points in 59 contests.
Meanwhile, Villeneuve set the scoring pace from the blue line. In an increase of magnitude from his previous two years with the club, Villeneuve recorded four goals and 40 points in 55 games with a +12 rating.
Hopefully, for Toronto’s sake, they won’t need any of the 14 call-ups to play, especially as they look to close out the Ottawa Senators this evening. Still, considering the numerous injuries they dealt with during the regular season, the Maple Leafs could rely on one or a few of these players to make their mark on the 2025 postseason.