Nick Roberston To Make Season Debut
- The offseason experiment of Denis Malgin on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ second line is coming to an end, at least for tonight. According to Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, the team will move top prospect Nick Robertson into the lineup to play beside John Tavares and William Nylander, an especially exciting opportunity for the young forward because of the opponent. Robertson’s brother Jason Robertson is in town with the Dallas Stars, making the second time the siblings will face off in the NHL. Despite starting games with the top-six unit, Malgin has averaged just 11:18 through his first four appearances with the Maple Leafs, seeing fewer than nine minutes in a recent loss against the Arizona Coyotes.
Toronto Marlies Sign Danny DeKeyser To PTO
With the Toronto Maple Leafs struggling to start the year and Jake Muzzin already out due to injury, the team’s defensive depth is being tested. Today, the organization has brought in a veteran name to see if he has any game left. Danny DeKeyser has signed a professional tryout agreement with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, giving him another chance to show what he can do.
DeKeyser was on a PTO with the Vancouver Canucks earlier this summer but failed to earn a contract at the end of camp. This deal with a minor league club likely isn’t what he was hoping for, though if there is an AHL club to go to, the Marlies would be near the top of the list. The Maple Leafs organization is more than willing to pay their minor leaguers handsomely, as you can see by the one-way deals that Kyle Clifford, Joey Anderson, Adam Gaudette, and the recently recalled Victor Mete and Wayne Simmonds are on this year.
If DeKeyser can show he still has some juice, an NHL deal would allow him to serve as extra depth in Toronto, something the team could quickly need. Muzzin is out indefinitely with a neck injury, Timothy Liljegren is still working his way back, Jordie Benn has only recently gotten back on the ice, and Carl Dahlstrom is probably going to miss the whole season. Not to mention Toronto has already lost to the teams that finished 32nd and 31st (Montreal and Arizona) last season.
It’s time to throw spaghetti against the wall and see if it sticks, meaning the 32-year-old should get a look. DeKeyser has played 547 regular season games in the league, though it has been years since he was the effective two-way force he entered as. Last season with the Detroit Red Wings (the only team he has ever played for), he registered 11 points in 59 games.
Vancouver Canucks Activate Ilya Mikheyev, Tyler Myers; Reassign Noah Juulsen
Today, Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced that the team had activated F Ilya Mikheyev and D Tyler Myers from injured reserve, sending down D Noah Juulsen to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks in a corresponding transaction.
Mikheyev and Myers began the regular season on injured reserve and have yet to suit up. Mikheyev has been absent from the Canucks’ lineup since suffering a lower-body injury in a preseason game on September 25 against the Calgary Flames, missing approximately three weeks. Myers’ return to the lineup comes well ahead of expectation, as he was expected to miss three weeks of action starting from October 6.
Both players could be in line to make their season debuts tonight in Columbus. The Canucks are in the second half of a back-to-back set and have lost their first three games. They set an NHL record last night in Washington by becoming the first team to blow multi-goal leads in three consecutive games to begin a season.
Mikheyev, who arrived this offseason as a free agent from the Toronto Maple Leafs, is expected to make his Canucks debut at right wing alongside Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko. Pettersson leads the Canucks with four points through his first three games. Myers is expected to play on a pairing with Riley Stillman, who was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks just prior to the season in exchange for Jason Dickinson.
Juulsen, 25, logged nearly 11 minutes in his season debut yesterday against Washington and recorded a shot on goal. While waiver-eligible, Juulsen cleared waivers less than 30 days ago and therefore can currently be shuttled down at will by the Canucks until November 4.
Jake Muzzin Leaves Game With Neck Injury
Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Muzzin left the game earlier this evening with a neck injury and will not return, the team announced. The injury appeared to occur after Muzzin and Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller came together in an awkward collision in the corner, Muzzin tumbling to the ice, leaving gingerly. It’s unclear how severe the injury is and whether or not Muzzin will miss any additional time after tonight.
Being without the veteran defenseman would be another tough injury break for the Maple Leafs, who already lost goaltender Matt Murray to an abdominal injury this weekend. The silver lining with Murray hitting LTIR was that it allowed the cap-tight Maple Leafs to recall three players, including defenseman Victor Mete. If Muzzin were to miss time, but not enough to warrant a trip to LTIR, Toronto still has just south of $1.6MM in LTIR to utilize, meaning they could recall another player.
Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Three Players
The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced the recalls of three skaters this morning, calling up forwards Nicholas Robertson and Wayne Simmonds, as well as defenseman Victor Mete. These moves come after starting netminder Matt Murray was placed on long-term injured reserve yesterday, a move that gave a cap-strapped Maple Leafs team some more breathing room under the salary cap.
Toronto had been operating with a roster holding the bare-minimum eighteen skaters and two goalies. Now, with this move, the team is utilizing all 23 of its allocated roster spots thanks to the additional room Murray’s LTIR placement provided.
With these recalls, Robertson and Simmonds are likely to start off as Toronto’s 13th and 14th forwards. In those roles, Robertson would likely fill in for any absences on the Maple Leafs’ scoring lines, while Simmonds would fill in for any absences in the team’s bottom six.
We covered earlier this month how the Maple Leafs were shopping Simmonds, a 1019-game veteran, but perhaps now that Simmonds has a place on Toronto’s NHL roster there won’t be the same sort of push to find a deal for him.
As for Mete, he was called up to in all likelihood serve as the team’s seventh defenseman. That’s a role that the 24-year-old should be able to handle capably, as he has had a place in NHL lineups since making his debut with the Montreal Canadiens in 2017-18.
The Maple Leafs are 2-1-0 and widely expected to be among the league’s best teams, although there has been concern about how well the team’s depth would hold up against the rigors of the NHL regular season. Now, we will see the organization’s depth face its first real test as these three players assume their roles as spare skaters in Toronto.
Toronto Maple Leafs Place Matt Murray On LTIR, Erik Kallgren Recalled
5:07 pm: The Maple Leafs have officially announced the transaction, also confirming that Murray is set to miss at least four weeks with an adductor injury.
4:41 pm: As reported by TSN’s Chris Johnston, the Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled goalie Erik Kallgren from the AHL. PuckPedia notes that this move implies that Matt Murray has been moved to long-term injured reserve after suffering an apparent groin injury in practice this morning.
If Murray was not injured enough to go on long-term injured reserve, the Maple Leafs would have had to utilize an emergency backup for tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators. The team remains tight to the salary cap and wouldn’t have had enough salary cap space to recall Kallgren without the additional LTIR relief from Murray’s $4.688MM cap hit.
Kallgren’s availability was also a point of uncertainty throughout the day for the Maple Leafs. The Swedish netminder, who had his 26th birthday yesterday, left the Toronto Marlies’ season opener against the Rochester Americans after a collision with Rochester Americans defenseman Ethan Prow. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported earlier today, though, Kallgren was cleared of any injury on the play.
Toronto will now rely heavily on Ilya Samsonov to begin the season, who made 24 saves on 26 shots in his Maple Leafs debut on Thursday against the Washington Capitals. Kallgren will likely be used sparingly as a backup, having amassed an 8-4-1 record but a poor .888 save percentage last season in Toronto.
The soonest Murray will be eligible to return to the lineup is November 8.
Maple Leafs Notes: Bunting, Goalies, Simmonds
In the 2021 offseason, Michael Bunting had strong interest but at a limited price tag having only had less than a half-season of NHL playing time under his belt. He signed a two-year deal with Toronto, one that has already become one of the top bargains in the league at a cost of $950K per season. The 27-year-old is a year away from testing the market again where his market will be much stronger. That said, he told reporters including Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, that his preference is to remain with the Maple Leafs:
I’m a Toronto boy, I love playing for the Maple Leafs. This is my home. It’s so much fun putting on that sweater every single night and that’s what I will say about it.
Bunting finished third in Calder Trophy voting last season after putting up 20 goals and 43 assists in 79 games. A similar showing this year on Toronto’s top line could put him in a position to command $5MM or more in free agency next summer which could make it tricky for the Maple Leafs to keep him around in that situation.
More from Toronto:
- Goaltender Matt Murray is the scheduled starter tonight against his former team in Ottawa but Sports Illustrated’s David Alter reports (Twitter link) that Murray left the game-day skate early with a groin issue. Ilya Samsonov would get the nod if Murray can’t suit up for this game. However, who would back him up would be in question as Erik Kallgren was injured in the AHL last night while Joseph Woll is still working his way back from injury as well. Their only other NHL-contracted goaltender (Dennis Hildeby) is in Sweden so he’s off the table for tonight. That means that if Murray can’t dress (and that hasn’t been ruled out just yet), they’ll either have to convert one of their AHL-contracted goalies (Keith Petruzzelli, Dryden McKay, or Dylan Ferguson) to an NHL deal and use a cap-exempt goalie recall (teams get two of those a season) or use an emergency backup (EBUG). However, an NHL conversion would be tricky with the team at the 50-contract limit.
- While the team sent winger Wayne Simmonds to the minors earlier this week, Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star notes that the veteran is not on Toronto’s AHL roster at this time. He’s currently skating with the injured Maple Leafs in the hopes of getting some clarity on what’s next for him. In the short-term future, it doesn’t appear that seeing action with Marlies is in the plans.
Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Fraser Minten
While the Toronto Maple Leafs organization is undoubtedly now devoting its full focus to the 2022-23 NHL season, that hasn’t stopped them from looking ahead to their future. Today, the Maple Leafs announced that they’ve signed prospect forward Fraser Minten to a three-year entry-level deal. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Minten, 18, was the Maple Leafs’ top draft pick at the 2022 draft in Montreal, getting selected 38th overall after Toronto traded out of the first round as part of the Petr Mrazek trade with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Minten is a WHL product who spent his draft season with the Kamloops Blazers. On a strong Blazers team, Minten scored 55 points in 67 regular-season games and added 16 points in 17 playoff games. Minten brings solid size and strength to the center position, and has drawn praise for his shooting ability.
Since Minten will play 2022-23 with the Blazers, the Maple Leafs’ choice to sign him to this entry-level deal isn’t motivated by any desire to improve their roster in the short or medium term. Instead, signing Minten to this deal gives GM Kyle Dubas and the Maple Leafs organization a chance to demonstrate their commitment to Minten’s development and reward him for his performances in rookie camp and the preseason.
With this deal in hand, Minten will head back to the Blazers once he recovers from an injury he suffered during training camp. In Kamloops, Minten will in all likelihood be asked to shoulder an even greater role as the Blazers look to build towards another deep run in the WHL playoffs.
Dylan Ferguson Signs Professional Tryout
Oct 11: Two months later, Ferguson’s time in Toronto isn’t over yet. The netminder has signed an AHL PTO to remain with the Toronto Marlies for the time being.
Aug 10: In the Vegas Golden Knights first season, some will remember a short period when every goaltender in the system was injured or unavailable at the same time. Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban, and Oscar Dansk all hit injured reserve together, meaning the team had just Maxime Lagace to play. In came Dylan Ferguson, a junior hockey netminder who was only a few months removed from being drafted in the seventh round. He was supposed to only serve as the backup but ended up on the ice in a game against the Edmonton Oilers.
Ferguson stopped one of two shots he faced during his nine-minute stint, and then returned to junior where he re-joined his Kamloops Blazers for the rest of that season, and another. His entry-level contract continued to slide but after three seasons bouncing around the minor leagues, the Golden Knights decided not to issue Ferguson a qualifying offer this summer, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Now, he has signed a professional tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs according to CapFriendly, as he tries to earn a new deal and get his career back on track. In 13 appearances with the Henderson Silver Knights last season, Ferguson posted a .907 save percentage.
Choosing the Maple Leafs is an interesting path, given how full their goaltending system is at the moment. The team has Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray at the NHL level, Erik Kallgren and Joseph Woll at the AHL level, and college standouts Keith Petruzzelli and Dryden McKay signed to AHL contracts. Hard to see where Ferguson would fit in, unless someone suffers an injury during camp, but it is important to remember that PTOs aren’t necessarily only to showcase a player’s skill for the team they sign with.
Often, it is to make sure they are in camp with someone, so that they can try to catch the eye of a team in the league. If Ferguson wants an NHL deal, he’ll get the chance to prove it in Toronto.
John Tavares Expected To Be Ready For Season Opener
After suffering an oblique injury in training camp, John Tavares was given a three-week recovery timeline. That suggested he would miss the first few games of the season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, leading to several questions about who would step into the top-six role in his absence. Now, just two weeks later, the Maple Leafs captain is expected to be ready for tomorrow’s opener after all, telling reporters including Mark Masters of TSN that he is excited to be there “right off the get-go.”
It’s a big season for Toronto after being knocked out of the first round once again, and Tavares’ health will be a key factor in their success. The 32-year-old suffered a scary concussion and knee injury in the team’s playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in 2021 and missed a good chunk of his offseason preparation because of it.
While he still managed 27 goals and 76 points during the following season, many critiqued his play and pointed to Tavares’ $11MM cap hit as one of the biggest challenges the Maple Leafs face when trying to exorcise their playoff demons. It was a generally healthy offseason for the veteran forward until this injury, so it will be interesting to see if his play will be improved at all, or whether this recent setback will have any ill effects.
Either way, with him in the lineup, things look a bit more natural for the Toronto forward group, with Alexander Kerfoot in the third-line pivot role and David Kampf centering Zach Aston-Reese and Nicolas Aube-Kubel on the fourth.