Owen Mehlenbacher

Tonight’s game was a tough one for the Maple Leafs.  The team announced (Twitter links) that goaltender Anthony Stolarz (lower body), defenseman Brandon Carlo (lower body), and forward Dakota Joshua (upper body) all exited their game against Washington due to injuries.

Stolarz went down just 2:34 into the game after extending to make a save and dropped to the ice in pain.  He was helped off and couldn’t put any weight on his leg while Joseph Woll took over for the rest of the game.  Carlo made it through two periods, playing into the final minute of the second but didn’t come out for the third while Joshua was injured on a hit from Rasmus Sandin in the back half of the middle frame.  The Maple Leafs have a quick turnaround as they’re set to play against the Islanders on Thursday; it wouldn’t be surprising to see several recalls before that contest.  One of those will be netminder Artur Akhtyamov as TSN’s Mark Masters relays (Twitter link) that the youngster will be brought up and make his NHL debut against New York.

Elsewhere in the East:

• Red Wings prospect Owen Mehlenbacher is entering the NCAA transfer portal, reports Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 22-year-old center was a seventh-round pick by Detroit back in 2022 and has played three college seasons so far.  The first two were spent at Wisconsin where he managed 10 points in 51 combined games.  This season, Mehlenbacher played at UMass after going through the portal last offseason, tallying three goals and six assists in 32 appearances.  At this point, it seems unlikely that Detroit would want to sign Mehlenbacher based on how things have gone so far so he’ll be banking on finding a landing spot where he can have a big senior season.
• The Flyers are attempting to bring prospect Jack Berglund to North America to get him some action with AHL Lehigh Valley, relays Anthony DiMarco of Daily Faceoff. The 19-year-old forward was a second-round pick back in 2024, going 51st overall.  Berglund had seven goals and five assists in 40 games with SHL Farjestad this season and has another year under contract with them.  Kevin Kurz of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that Philadelphia would like to have Berglund in training camp with them next season which suggests they intend to sign him to an entry-level deal for next season.