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Pontus Holmberg

Maple Leafs Place Auston Matthews On IR

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Jan. 3: Rifai is back to the minors today, the team announced. Ekman-Larsson is fully recovered from his illness, so Rifai’s services as a healthy extra are no longer needed. There’s no corresponding move, so the Leafs free up a roster spot.

Dec. 31: The Toronto Maple Leafs needed available depth before their matchup against the New York Islanders this afternoon requiring a formal roster move. The team announced they’ve placed Auston Matthews on injured reserve (retroactive to Dec. 20th) and recalled defenseman Marshall Rifai from their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.

Hindering any new concerns regarding Matthews’ injury, the Maple Leafs also announced defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and forward Pontus Holmberg won’t play today because of the flu. Matthews is eligible to return from the injured reserve at any point but two additional players sidelined necessitated a formal roster move.

There’s no expectation Matthews has suffered a setback in his road back from an upper-body injury. He’s missed five straight games after missing nine earlier in the year but has recently returned to skating.

Still, there should be some concern about Matthews’ constant slate of injuries this season. He’s still been his normal self when healthy scoring 11 goals and 23 points in 24 games this year but his availability is important first and foremost. Thankfully for Toronto, they performed well without their captain this season as they’re one win away from tying the Florida Panthers for the lead in the Atlantic Division.

Although he didn’t suit up in his first go-around, the roster move is the second time Rifai has enjoyed an NHL call-up this month. He’ll likely know by warm-ups if he’ll be in the lineup tonight but Toronto still has six healthy defensemen without Ekman-Larsson.

The Harvard University alumnus has been a serviceable defenseman for the Marlies for the past three years and made his NHL debut with the Maple Leafs last year. He’s registered eight goals and 39 points in 150 career games for AHL Toronto.

Morning Notes: Broberg, Holmberg, Walman

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One of the league’s most eye-opening offseason acquisitions has been making a significant impact with his new club early on. When the Blues signed former Oilers Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway to successful offer sheets, most viewed their contracts as a bet on their upside rather than their current prowess. That was especially true in Broberg’s case, as the Blues inked him to a two-year deal with a $4.58MM cap hit despite the 2019 eighth overall pick spending most of last season in the minors.

But early on, Broberg’s been worth the cash and then some. He’s embarked on a six-game point streak to begin his tenure in St. Louis, tying for the team lead in scoring with six points (1 G, 5 A) and tying for the team lead with a +6 rating. What’s more – all of that production has come at even strength, and he’s averaging nearly 20 minutes per game. There’s more about Broberg’s early-season emergence in today’s video breakdown from Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription required).

Here are a couple of more things from around the hockey world this morning:

  • A successful offseason by most accounts from Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving means more forward depth for new head coach Craig Berube to play with. That’s led to a rotation of notable healthy scratches thus far, including late-offseason pickup Max Pacioretty. The next one might be Pontus Holmberg, who Berube said “has got to battle a little bit harder” after last weekend’s 4-1 loss to the Rangers (via Nick Barden of The Hockey News). He was potentially looking to lock down a spot as the team’s third-line center, and while he’s done well in the faceoff dot with a career-high 55.2 FOW%, he’s played mostly on the wing thus far and has an assist and a -1 rating through five appearances. Possession numbers have been extremely unkind to him in heavy defensive usage as well.
  • Defender Jake Walman was a surprise mover this summer when the Red Wings attached a second-round pick to deal him to the Sharks. Most thought at least one Detroit defenseman would be on the move, but not one of the team’s best skaters who’d flourished in a top-pairing role alongside Moritz Seider over the past couple of seasons. Walman recently spoke to The Athletic’s Max Bultman about the move, which he said left him “shocked and heartbroken.” He’s off to a fresh start in San Jose, where he’s averaging over 23 minutes per game as their top blue-line option with two assists and a -2 rating through six appearances.

East Notes: Thompson, Holmberg, Letang, Grzelcyk

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The Sabres placed star center Tage Thompson on the non-roster list after he was absent from last night’s 4-1 loss to the Bruins for personal reasons. While the move was announced Thursday, it was likely filed with the league in order to reduce the Sabres’ active roster to 23 players before the holiday roster freeze lifted last night at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Buffalo is now at the maximum of 23 players on their roster, but they’ll still need to clear two roster spots in the near future: one to activate Thompson when he’s ready to return to the team, and one to activate injured forward Zemgus Girgensons, whose return to health is imminent.

It’s been a down season for Thompson, who had a three-point game against the Maple Leafs but has otherwise been ineffective since returning from a wrist injury that cost him nine games in November and early December. He has nine goals and 19 points in 26 games on the season, a significant decline from last season’s 47 goals and 94 points.

Elsewhere from the Eastern Conference today:

  • The Maple Leafs recalled center Pontus Holmberg from AHL Toronto yesterday, per CapFriendly. Holmberg, who is still waiver-exempt, has been ferried up and down between leagues frequently this season to serve as injury insurance for the Maple Leafs. He last played on December 16 against the Penguins and has one assist in eight games this season, averaging 8:53 per game. He was a healthy scratch for last night’s loss against the Senators. The 24-year-old Swede has excelled at the AHL level this season, potting ten points in 11 games.
  • Penguins defenseman Kris Letang is a member of one of the most venerable trios in hockey history with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but he’s often been overshadowed by the achievements of his peers. He took home a milestone of his own last night, however, setting an NHL record by registering five assists in the second period against the Islanders – the most ever in a single period by a defenseman. He added another assist in the third, giving him a six-point night and bringing him to 0.7 points per game on the season, much closer to the pace we’re accustomed to seeing from him. The 36-year-old is still barely ahead of Erik Karlsson for the highest average time on ice on the team (24:40) and is now second on the team in assists behind Jake Guentzel with 20. Letang has four seasons remaining after this on a contract carrying a $6.1MM cap hit.
  • Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk was in a regular jersey at practice today, according to the Boston Globe’s Conor Ryan, signaling he’s close to returning. Grzelcyk, 29, has missed the last three games with an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. He is not on injured reserve and is eligible to re-enter the lineup at any time. While he’s held a top-pairing role alongside Charlie McAvoy for most of the season, he may be losing out on his spot. Grzelcyk is currently in one of the worst stretches of his career, posting just one goal and a -3 rating in 20 contests this season while averaging 17:04 per game. 22-year-old rookie Mason Lohrei has seen looks with McAvoy in Grzelcyk’s absence and has put up better stats in more minutes, posting six points and a -1 rating in 18 contests while averaging 17:24 per contest.

Minor Transactions: 12/24/23

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With no games on the NHL schedule until Wednesday, many teams snuck last-minute transactions in before the full roster freeze kicked in.  We’ve covered a handful of them here throughout the day in Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and St. Louis; here’s a rundown of the remaining moves.  All transactions are via the AHL’s transactions log unless otherwise noted.

  • The Capitals returned winger Ivan Miroshnichenko and center Hendrix Lapierre to AHL Hershey. Both players were recalled on Tuesday with Miroshnichenko making his NHL debut.  He was held off the scoresheet in his three appearances while Lapierre has five points in 14 games with Washington so far.
  • The Red Wings re-assigned center Austin Czarnik and defenseman Simon Edvinsson back to AHL Grand Rapids. Czarnik has been shuffled back and forth frequently this month and has one assist in 16 games with Detroit while Edvinsson, who was only brought up Saturday, made his season debut last night.
  • The Kings loaned Jacob Moverare back to AHL Ontario after playing just shy of 15 minutes last night versus Calgary. The 25-year-old has been recalled and sent back down ten separate times each since mid-November.
  • The Golden Knights have loaned goaltender Isaiah Saville back to AHL Henderson, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). He has been serving as their interim backup with both Adin Hill and Logan Thompson injured.  As Thompson remains on the active roster, Saville was eligible to be sent back down.  The 23-year-old was activated off SOIR earlier this month and has made three appearances for the Silver Knights.
  • The Bruins sent three players back to AHL Providence – defensemen Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon along with center Patrick Brown. Lohrei has five points in 17 games so far in his first full professional campaign while Wotherspoon is logging nearly 16 minutes a night in eight games with Boston.  As for Brown, he cleared waivers early in the season and has been brought up four separate times now; he has an assist in nine games at the top level so far.
  • Boston also made one other transaction as they converted defenseman Ian Mitchell from an emergency recall to a regular one, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). Mitchell was recalled on Saturday and has two assists in 13 games with Boston so far.  The Bruins will now be ineligible to send him down until after the roster freeze lifts.
  • The Maple Leafs have returned center Pontus Holmberg to AHL Toronto. It’s the third time he has been sent back down since Wednesday as Toronto has been shuffling him up and down quite frequently.  The 24-year-old has an assist in eight games with the big club so far.
  • A day after recalling him, the Coyotes have sent center Justin Kirkland back to Tucson of the AHL. The 27-year-old had spent the full year with the Roadrunners prior to yesterday’s move, notching ten points in nine contests.
  • Grant Hutton is once again on the move as the Islanders have sent him back to AHL Bridgeport, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). He has been recalled and re-assigned six times apiece in the last month and has been limited to just two appearances with New York so far this season.

Many of these transactions will be undone on the 27th or 28th as NHL teams return to action.  In the meantime, these teams will save a bit of salary money and cap space with these demotions.  Toronto and Ottawa’s moves could have AHL implications as well as their two affiliates will play on Tuesday so the players they sent down could suit up in that contest.

Maple Leafs Recall Pontus Holmberg

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With Ryan Reaves leaving Thursday’s game against Columbus with an injury that’s expected to keep him “out for a while” according to head coach Sheldon Keefe, the Maple Leafs had an opening up front to fill.  They’ve now filled that spot as the team announced (Twitter link) that center Pontus Holmberg has been recalled from AHL Toronto.

The 24-year-old impressed in a half-season stint in 2022-23, earning him a two-year, one-way contract that carries an AAV of $800K.  It also led to expectations that he’d be an NHL regular this season.  That hasn’t been the case, however, as Toronto is taking advantage of his waiver exemption and has shuffled him back and forth so far.

Holmberg has played in seven games with the big club this season and has been held off the scoresheet while averaging just under nine minutes a night.  However, he has been quite productive with the Marlies, tallying six goals and four assists in 11 games at the AHL level.  For now, he’s likely to serve as the 13th forward assuming Matthew Knies is able to return from his illness tonight against Pittsburgh.

Maple Leafs Recall Bobby McMann, Assign Pontus Holmberg To AHL

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Following their shootout win over Calgary last night, the Maple Leafs have made a roster move up front in advance of their game against Vancouver tonight.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Bobby McMann from AHL Toronto while they have assigned center Pontus Holmberg back to the Marlies.

McMann was briefly on the NHL roster at the start of the season while on season-opening IR but cleared waivers as soon as he was activated.  The 27-year-old has played in six AHL contests so far this season, picking up two goals and an assist.

Last season, McMann saw his first taste of NHL action, getting into ten games with the Maple Leafs where he had an assist and 17 hits while averaging 10:34 per night.  While he was limited to just 30 games with the Marlies a year ago due to injury, McMann was quite productive, tallying 21 goals along with eight assists.  If he can show any sort of that scoring touch on the NHL fourth line, he could stick around for a little while.

As for Holmberg, he has spent the bulk of the early going this season with the Maple Leafs, getting into seven games where he has been held off the scoresheet while logging a little under nine minutes per contest.  The 24-year-old has a pair of points so far with AHL Toronto and will go back to playing a much bigger role for the Marlies for the time being.

Maple Leafs Recall Pontus Holmberg, Loan Maxime Lajoie To Minors

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have swapped players with their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, recalling forward Pontus Holmberg and loaning out defenseman Maxime Lajoie, according to a team release.

Holmberg returns to the Maple Leafs after a brief stint in the minors. The team sent him down on Monday to make room for winger Nicholas Robertson to come up to the active roster.

The 24-year-old Swede has been a non-factor on the scoresheet this season, recording no points and a -2 rating in seven games with the Leafs. His possession numbers have dipped south from last year’s rookie season, posting a Corsi share of 42.5% at even strength while averaging 8:44 per game.

At the very least, Holmberg has been less of a liability than enforcer Ryan Reaves, who has no points and a -9 rating while playing in all 13 games this season. Summoning Holmberg from the minors could mean that Reaves, who signed a three-year, $4.05MM contract with the Leafs last summer, could be a healthy scratch for Friday’s game against the Calgary Flames. The Leafs’ depth posting poor possession metrics is a significant reason why Toronto has conceded 3.62 goals per game this season, the worst in the Atlantic Division.

Toronto can only carry two extra skaters on the active roster for the time being due to salary cap constraints, including injured defenseman Jake McCabe. Thus, someone had to head back to the Marlies to create cap space for Holmberg. Lajoie has made one appearance for the Maple Leafs this year after injuries sidelined McCabe and Timothy Liljegren, taking just nine shifts and skating 4:54 in a 6-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres last Saturday.

Lajoie, 26, is also without a point in seven games with the Marlies this season. He’s played in NHL games in each of the last six seasons but hasn’t come close to recapturing a full-time role since registering 15 points in 56 during his rookie season with the Ottawa Senators in 2018-19.

Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Pontus Holmberg, Loan Simon Benoit To AHL

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that center Pontus Holmberg has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies. In a corresponding move, defenseman Simon Benoit was sent to the Marlies.

The recall of Holmberg could have been motivated by a few factors. First and foremost, with Tyler Bertuzzi playing through an injury, it’s possible the Maple Leafs may want to give him a some time away from the ice to focus more on recovery. In that case, Toronto would need a forward to replace Bertuzzi in their lineup, which would be Holmberg. The Maple Leafs only have the cap space to carry one spare player, so with a need up front rather than on defense it’s easy to see why Benoit would be sent to the AHL in favor of Holmberg.

There’s another factor that may have motivated this recall, and it relates to rookie forward Fraser Minten. If the Maple Leafs are okay continuing with Bertuzzi in their lineup and playing through injury, this recall may instead have been made to allow for Minten to be re-assigned back to the WHL and the Kamloops Blazers.

While Minten had an undoubtedly stellar training camp and preseason, it was always unlikely that the 19-year-old rookie would remain the third-line center for a full season on a team with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations.

Minten scored 31 goals and 67 points in 57 WHL games last season, and this year he would likely become the centerpiece player on a Blazers team currently struggling due to the graduations of key players. Minten would also stand a strong chance of playing an important role for Team Canada at this year’s IIHF Men’s World Junior Championships.

The Maple Leafs could very well view this WHL-plus-WJC development path as more optimal for Minten’s future than playing 11-12 minutes per night in their NHL lineup, and as a result, this recall of Holmberg could allow them to re-assign Minten to take up that path.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Examining Toronto’s Further Cap-Cutting Options

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While today’s news that the Maple Leafs would be placing goaltender Matt Murray on LTIR to start the season helps to alleviate Toronto’s salary cap situation, they still have some work to do.  Using CapFriendly’s numbers, they still sit a little more than $2MM above the Upper Limit of the salary cap (even with Jake Muzzin being LTIR-bound himself) which means they have some paring down to do.

The recent arbitration award to Ilya Samsonov has opened up a second buyout window that they can utilize within the next 48 hours.  However, there are specific rules in place as to who can be bought out in this second window.  The player must make at least $4MM and have been on the roster last season.  Most of the other Toronto players that meet the criteria (and there aren’t many) have a zero percent chance of being bought out.

One possible exception is defenseman T.J. Brodie.  While they certainly wouldn’t want to part with the 33-year-old, the back-loaded structure of his contract would actually see the Maple Leafs clear the full $5MM AAV off the books for next season, clearing that gap and actually giving them some flexibility to add.  On the flip side, it would add $2.5MM onto the books for 2024-25 which certainly isn’t ideal with Auston Matthews and William Nylander needing pricey new deals next summer.  Speculatively, if they were open to parting with Brodie, a trade with 50% retention would free up $2.5MM in cap room and could yield a positive-value return, even in a market that doesn’t have a lot of financial wiggle room.

Assuming that’s not a route Toronto wants to take, let’s move on to some of the smaller cost-cutting options, sticking with the defense first.  Conor Timmins has a two-year deal that begins next season, one that carries a $1.1MM AAV.  While it’s generally viewed as bad form to trade a player that soon after signing an extension, Treliving wasn’t the one that gave him that deal.  Even if a trade option isn’t available, the contract can be fully buried in the minors without a lingering cap charge.  That might be their best option, actually, allowing them to keep Timmins in the organization a little longer and if another LTIR-eligible injury arises, he could then be brought up.

However, if head coach Sheldon Keefe wants to hold onto Timmins in the NHL, then Timothy Liljegren could become a cost-cutting candidate.  Signed for a reasonable $1.4MM next season, the 24-year-old has shown enough that they could get a solid return for his services although it would take another perceived part of their long-term plans out of the system, joining Rasmus Sandin who was moved at the deadline last season.

If Toronto parts with Brodie, it becomes much less likely that they’ll do something with Timmins or Liljegren as they’ll need them in the lineup on a regular basis.

Up front, there are presently 14 forwards on their projected roster.  They only need 12 so some savings can come from here.  Nicholas Robertson is coming off another shoulder injury and is waiver-exempt so his $797K is an easy one to pare down.

The other one isn’t as easy.  Sam Lafferty ($1.15MM) could be a luxury they could no longer afford and his contract could be fully buried in the minors if he was to clear waivers.  With the year he had, there could be a taker in training camp but with several capable role players still unsigned, his trade value right now would be limited.  Dylan Gambrell ($750K) is someone who might pass through unclaimed but he’d yield the fewest cap savings.  Pontus Holmberg ($800K) and Matthew Knies ($925K) are waiver-exempt and would save a bit more money than Gambrell but in a perfect world, they’re both in the opening lineup.

The other possible cap casualty could be winger Calle Jarnkrok.  At $2.1MM, his cap hit is hardly above market value but it might be a value that they can’t afford anymore while moving him outright would get them back into compliance.  However, the trade market for him might not be the best right now with other bottom-six players available in free agency and not necessarily needing the three years that Jarnkrok has left on his deal.

As you can see, there are certainly multiple paths that the Maple Leafs can take to get compliant.  But one way or the other, they will need to either part with some serviceable veterans or carry a minimum-sized roster to get there.  Treliving has added some pieces this summer including veterans John Klingberg, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Max Domi but some subtraction should now be coming.

Toronto Maple Leafs To Place Ryan O’Reilly On LTIR, Recall Two

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12:57 p.m.: It’s the worst-case scenario for the Maple Leafs. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters today that O’Reilly will be placed on long-term injured reserve with a broken finger, with no timeline for his return. However, TSN’s Mark Masters notes the team expects him back before the playoffs. O’Reilly had three goals and five points in eight games with Toronto since he was acquired from the St. Louis Blues in advance of the trade deadline.

Tavares, on the other hand, will not play tomorrow as a precaution, as he’s “not feeling himself.” Keefe told reporters the team is “mindful” that Tavares received some hard hits in the Canucks game, but attributes his absence to a flu bug going around the room and a tough travel schedule. He noted Tavares felt good after practice and that he’s on track to return to the lineup this weekend against the Edmonton Oilers.

12:20 p.m.: With injuries beginning to mount, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced the recalls of forwards Alex Steeves and Pontus Holmberg from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on Monday.

The recalls come as injuries have affected two of Toronto’s top centers, although their severity is unknown at the time of writing. Ryan O’Reilly was absent from practice this morning after he took a puck to the hand in Toronto’s Saturday loss to the Vancouver Canucks, while John Tavares was an extra after he was the recipient of a hard hit from Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers in the same game.

A corresponding transaction will need to be made before 4 p.m. CT today, as the two recalls would put Toronto more than $800K over the salary cap.

For Holmberg, it’s a chance to build on a strong start to his NHL career earlier in the season. Although he was pushed down the depth chart with Toronto’s trade deadline acquisitions, he’d been an effective depth piece for the Leafs, recording five goals and 13 points in 36 games while providing solid defensive play. The 2018 sixth-round pick is in his first season in North America after back-to-back standout campaigns with the SHL’s Växjö Lakers HC.

Steeves, 23, is second on the Marlies in scoring, with 44 points in 53 games, and earns his second recall of the season after an emergency call-up in February. The undrafted free agent signing out of Notre Dame has five appearances with the Maple Leafs over the past two seasons, recording his first NHL assist in the process.

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