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Maple Leafs Recall Dennis Hildeby

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With Joseph Woll (conditioning stint) not yet ready to rejoin the Maple Leafs and Cayden Primeau’s performance as the backup landing him on waivers where he was claimed by Carolina, they need a new short-term second option.  That will be netminder Dennis Hildeby as the team announced (Twitter link) that he has been recalled from AHL Toronto.

Hildeby appeared to be set to be the backup heading into the season following Woll’s absence and James Reimer being released from his late-camp PTO but Primeau’s claim at the end of training camp ended those plans.  Instead, the 24-year-old was sent down to the Marlies with an eye on seeing more playing time than he otherwise would have received as the backup to Anthony Stolarz.

That hasn’t gone quite to plan, however.  Hildeby has only made five starts for the Marlies (Primeau made three for the Maple Leafs over that same stretch) so he didn’t wind up seeing much extra action.  Over those outings, he has a 2.74 GAA and a .890 SV%, a step back on his career averages of 2.54 and .908 respectively over 78 AHL appearances.  Hildeby has six career NHL outings under his belt, all coming last season when he posted a 3.33 GAA and a .872 SV%.

With Toronto kicking off a back-to-back set tonight, it stands to reason that Hildeby will likely get the nod on Sunday against Carolina.  But that might be his only action while on this recall with Woll likely to rejoin the big club and come off LTIR within the next week or so.

Toronto Maple Leafs Place Cayden Primeau On Waivers

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed netminder Cayden Primeau on waivers, according to The Athletic’s Chris Johnston. Primeau, 26, was originally claimed off of waivers by the Maple Leafs on Oct. 6, as expected tandem goalie Joseph Woll had stepped away from the team to take a leave of absence on Sept. 23. Now, Woll has returned to the team and is nearing a full return to the NHL, a development that will, as expected, push Primeau off of the Maple Leafs’ NHL roster.

TSN’s Mark Masters reported today that Woll is going to play an AHL conditioning stint this weekend, meaning that while Primeau has been waived today, he may remain on the Maple Leafs’ NHL roster for a few more days while Woll is on his conditioning stint, assuming Primeau clears, of course.

Complicating his chances of clearing waivers is the fact that he was originally acquired by the Maple Leafs via waivers – meaning if the Carolina Hurricanes are the only team to claim Primeau, they would be free to claim him and then assign him to their AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves.

While Primeau does come with a relatively hefty AHL price tag attached (he’s playing on a one-way, $775k deal), the Hurricanes could use some veteran support in their crease in Chicago. Their two incumbent goalies, Nikita Quapp and Amir Miftakhov,each have very little North American pro experience, so the addition of Primeau could go a long way in stabilizing that team’s goaltending situation. The Hurricanes also traded a draft pick (a 2026 seventh-rounder) to the Montreal Canadiens to acquire Primeau, so the Hurricanes may be motivated by that cost to re-add Primeau now that he’s available on waivers once again.

That’s not to say there’s no chance Primeau gets claimed by another team. While he has struggled at the NHL level in limited ice time this season (.838 save percentage in 3 games), he did post a solid .910 save percentage in 23 games in 2023-24 and looked like he was on track to become a solid backup goaltender, especially considering his track record in the AHL and in the NCAA. Another team in need of an additional goaltender could look at today’s waiver placement as an opportunity to add a goalie with some experience to their NHL roster.

Maple Leafs Still Hoping To Trade Depth Forward, Benoit Scratched Due To Illness

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  • With a cap and roster crunch looming in Toronto when Joseph Woll needs to be activated off LTIR, the Maple Leafs will need to make some moves sooner than later. Some have suspected that they will be waiving players or parting with an asset to get a team to take on a contract but David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that they’re not taking that approach just yet.  Instead, they’re still focused on landing a positive-value return in the form of draft capital.  With Woll not on a conditioning stint yet, they still have some time but sooner than later, their hand will be forced, barring further injuries.
  • Still with Toronto, prior to tonight’s game against Utah, the Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Simon Benoit would be scratched due to illness. The 27-year-old has been a regular on the third pairing this season, picking up two assists, 21 blocks, and 33 hits in 13 games while averaging over 17 minutes a night.  His absence may have played a role in Easton Cowan’s demotion as Dakota Mermis, who is also currently waiver-exempt, was needed in the lineup to cover for Benoit.

Maple Leafs Activate Scott Laughton, Reassign Easton Cowan

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5:00 p.m.: As expected, the Maple Leafs confirmed they’ve activated Laughton from the injured reserve. Additionally, the team shared that they’ve reassigned Cowan in a corresponding roster move. The 20-year-old scored one goal and four points while averaging 12:33 of ice time throughout his 10-game debut with Toronto.

11:39 a.m.: Maple Leafs center Scott Laughton will be activated from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s clash with the Mammoth, he told reporters (including Luke Fox of Sportsnet). Toronto does not have an open roster spot and will need to create one to activate him. That could mean an IR placement for Steven Lorentz, who has sat out two games with an upper-body injury, meaning his placement could be retroactive to Oct. 29. If he’s also available against Utah, the team could send down rookie Easton Cowan or Dakota Mermis. They could also waive either Sammy Blais or Calle Järnkrok, who are both projected scratches.

Laughton hasn’t had a chance to suit up in the regular season. The 31-year-old anchored Toronto’s fourth line during the preseason, often flanked by Lorentz and Cowan, a combination most thought would stick but hasn’t gotten the chance to play together. He sustained a lower-body injury during a match late in camp and was ruled week-to-week, forcing him to start the season on IR.

Toronto paid a steep price to acquire Laughton from the Flyers at last season’s trade deadline, parting ways with winger Nikita Grebenkin and a conditional first-round pick in 2027. For that return, Philadelphia retained half of his remaining salary, which means the pending UFA only counts for $1.5MM against Toronto’s cap. That makes his underwhelming performance down the stretch last season more palatable if it’s a sign of things to come for the balance of 2025-26. The 12-year veteran only managed two goals and four points in 20 regular-season games for the Leafs before a two-assist performance in 13 playoff games.

Some of that can and should be attributed to a decrease in role. Laughton had been a top-nine fixture in Philadelphia for the past five-plus years but was immediately relegated to fourth-line and penalty killing duties upon arrival in Toronto. His ice time dropped from 15:06 per game with the Flyers to 13:06 per game with the Leafs, and his most common linemates last season were Lorentz and Järnkrok, who only combined for nine goals and 26 points themselves.

Nonetheless, scoring hasn’t been a problem for the Leafs this year. Their stars have held up their end of the bargain in the wake of Mitch Marner’s departure, and the team’s 3.62 goals per game is third in the league. They’re allowing as much as they’re generating, though, in part due to underwhelming goaltending from Anthony Stolarz and Cayden Primeau. Nonetheless, Laughton’s defensive acumen is what Toronto is looking forward to the most as they try to build upon what currently sits as the fifth-worst defense in the league.

Matias Maccelli Made A Healthy Scratch

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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matias Maccelli has been made a healthy scratch for today’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, reports The Hockey News’ David Alter.  The move comes as Toronto sits 23rd in the NHL, having had a slower-than-expected start to the season. Their 6-5-1 record places them 23rd in the league standings at this early point in the season. While a player getting healthy scratched is a relatively routine occurrence and not hugely noteworthy on its own, tracking Maccelli’s standing in Toronto is of a heightened importance due to the transaction he was involved in over the summer.

William Nylander, Steven Lorentz Return To Practice

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The Toronto Maple Leafs will get a major boost to their forward core tonight. Earlier today, TSN’s Mark Masters reported that William Nylander and Steven Lorentz were on the ice for Toronto’s practice. Further, multiple reports after practice indicated that Nylander would return to the lineup tonight.

Nylander has been dealing with a lower-body injury for the last little while. Since the Maple Leafs’ game against the Buffalo Sabres on October 24th, Nylander has only appeared in one game, missing three. Still, he’s been more than effective when in the lineup, scoring three goals and 15 points in nine games for Toronto this year.

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Latest On David Kampf

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Over the offseason, the Maple Leafs were looking to find a new home for veteran center David Kampf but no trade came to fruition.  As a result, he was ultimately waived in training camp and, after going unclaimed, he was assigned to AHL Toronto.

Considering that GM Brad Treliving signed the 30-year-old to a four-year, $9.6MM contract a little more than two years ago, this was an outcome that wasn’t expected.  The plan was that he’d continue to anchor the fourth line while providing strong work at the faceoff dot and on the penalty kill.  But his role was reduced last season under Craig Berube and other lower-cost players now occupy his spot on the roster.

This season, Kampf had only played in four of seven games with the Marlies heading into the weekend.  He didn’t suit up on the road in Chicago either as  Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (video link) that the veteran is taking a couple of days to ponder his future.

In recent years, we’ve seen a handful of players walk away from guaranteed money in the hopes of getting a more favorable opportunity in the NHL or simply to get back into the NHL.  Among that group are Conor Sheary, Brandon Saad, and Filip Zadina.  It’s possible that Kampf is pondering a similar route although he’d be walking away from more than $3MM in money owed between his salary this season and next plus next season’s signing bonus.

While that possibility is on the table, TSN’s Darren Dreger recently noted that the Maple Leafs are still trying to find a new home for Kampf.  However, with the team needing to free up cap space to accommodate Joseph Woll’s pending return from LTIR, they’re not necessarily in a spot where they can afford to take a similarly-priced player back.  Meanwhile, retaining salary would also make getting back to compliance a little trickier although they are dealing with a $1.25MM dead cap charge while Kampf is in the minors.  Technically, retaining less than that amount would still save them some cap room but it would tie up a salary retention slot through June 30, 2027.

If Woll’s return is the pressure point on the team, that could still be a week or two away as it’s expected that he’ll need a conditioning stint with the Marlies, one that would last three games but could be extended by two more with league approval.  However, if Kampf doesn’t want to wait that long, he could try to force the issue sooner but he’d likely have to walk away from the rest of his contract to do so.  If that were to happen, his contract would come off Toronto’s books entirely beyond what has already been accrued over the first few weeks of the season.

 

Maple Leafs Place Chris Tanev On Injured Reserve, Recall Dakota Mermis

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Sunday: Toronto has reversed this move after Tanev left Saturday’s game on a stretcher in the third period. Tanev will head back to IR, while Mermis has been recalled to the active roster, per Lance Hornby of Post Media. No specifics of Tanev’s injury, or timeline, have been revealed, though Hornby points out that Toronto did not feel the need to place Tanev on long-term injured reserve.

Saturday: The Maple Leafs announced that Tanev has officially been activated.  As expected, Mermis has been assigned to the minors to make room for Tanev on the active roster.

Friday: Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev told reporters today, including David Alter of The Hockey News, that he’s cleared concussion protocol and is likely to play Saturday against the Flyers. He’ll need to come off injured reserve to do so, meaning the team must create a roster spot before tomorrow night. Dakota Mermis was the player recalled when Tanev landed on IR last week and could return to AHL Toronto after sitting as a healthy scratch in three straight games.

Tanev will have missed 11 days and four games when his absence comes to an end this weekend. He was on the receiving end of a hit on Oct. 21 against the Devils that caused him to leave the game early.

Before exiting the lineup, the 35-year-old had been his usual stable self. The stalwart rearguard only had one assist in seven games, but his +3 rating is still second among Toronto defensemen despite the absence, and the Leafs were allowing just 1.7 goals per 60 minutes at even strength when he was on the ice. The raw shot attempt numbers aren’t in Tanev’s favor so far – his 46.3 CF% at even strength is 19th out of 22 skaters to play a game for Toronto this season – but that has more to do with a lack of offense coming from Toronto’s forwards when he and usual partner Jake McCabe were on the ice. The duo’s 2.27 xGA/60 is still the lowest among the Leafs’ three regular pairings.

Toronto’s defense needs all the help it can get with its goaltenders not holding up their end of the bargain. After receiving some of the best puck-stopping in the league last season, the Leafs’ goaltenders have been the main culprit behind their underwhelming 5-5-1 record through October. Anthony Stolarz has only managed a .886 SV% in eight starts, while waiver-claim backup Cayden Primeau, playing in place of Joseph Woll (who’s on the verge of returning from an extended personal leave), has an .838 mark in his three starts.

Chris Tanev Medical Update

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The Toronto Maple Leafs issued an update today on the health status of defenseman Chris Tanev, who had to be helped off the ice during the team’s road win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Maple Leafs said Tanev “was evaluated overnight in Philadelphia for precautionary purposes” and has since “been discharged” and will return to Toronto. Ignoring Tanev’s readiness to play, the injury he suffered last night was worrying simply regarding Tanev’s personal health and safety. While the team did not confirm further details of the injury, it’s encouraging to see Tanev fit enough to be discharged and allowed to return to Toronto.

William Nylander Misses Another Game Due To Injury

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  • Toronto Maple Leafs star winger William Nylander missed another game due to his lower-body injury. The 29-year-old has been managing the injury for some time, his classification originally beginning as a game-time decision on Oct. 27 before deteriorating to an “out” designation for each of the Maple Leafs’ last two games. Nylander has been Toronto’s best player early this season with 15 points in nine games. While last night was a difficult one for Toronto sports overall, the Maple Leafs managed to register a strong 5-2 win in Nylander’s absence.

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