Maple Leafs defenseman Joel Edmundson won’t be available for their next two games, head coach Sheldon Keefe said (via David Alter of The Hockey News). However, Keefe didn’t rule out the possibility of Edmundson returning later this week, potentially Thursday at home against the Devils. The 30-year-old hasn’t played since sustaining an undisclosed injury against the Hurricanes on March 24, knocking him out for now at least eight games. He’d been solid otherwise for Toronto, controlling possession quality well with a 50.5 xGF% in tough shutdown minutes at even strength through seven games. The Manitoba native is still looking for his first point as a Leaf after they picked him up from the Capitals before the trade deadline.
Maple Leafs Rumors
Toronto Maple Leafs Assign Noah Chadwick To AHL
The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed defense prospect Noah Chadwick to the minor leagues to finish the season (Twitter link). Chadwick signed a three-year, entry-level contract with Toronto in December, but finished out his year in the WHL before moving to the pros. He’s so far played in 66 WHL games this season, scoring a career-high 12 goals and 56 points.
Chadwick was drafted in the sixth-round of the 2023 NHL Draft, on the back of stalwart play on the defensive side of the red line. While his 20 points in 67 games last season certainly wasn’t inspiring, his long reach and ability to contain opponents stood out every single game. Chadwick’s impact remained largely on the defensive side this season, though his boost in scoring could give him good momentum going into the AHL.
Chadwick will have seven games to fight into the Toronto Marlies lineup before the AHL Playoffs begin. The Marlies sit at fourth in the North Division right now, three points ahead of the Laval Rocket and Belleville Senators with two games in hand. That should be plenty of playoff security, and buys Chadwick added time to earn his professional debut. He’ll face plenty of competition in the lineup, with the Marlies adding three defensemen earlier this week following the end of the Newfoundland Grizzlies’ season. The Marlies now sit at 13 defensemen, including Chadwick.
Maple Leafs To Activate Mitch Marner From LTIR
Star Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner was a full participant in today’s practice and is likely to return tomorrow against the Canadiens, Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun reports. As such, Toronto is expected to reinstate him from long-term injured reserve before Saturday’s 6 p.m. CT puck drop.
As head coach Sheldon Keefe tries to finalize line combinations before the postseason, Marner notably won’t return in his usual first-line role alongside Auston Matthews. In his absence, the generational goal-scorer has done quite well anchoring a line with Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi, so Marner slides down to the Leafs’ second even-strength unit alongside Bobby McMann and captain John Tavares. Marner hasn’t played since sustaining a high ankle sprain against the Bruins on March 7, causing a 12-game absence.
Before the injury, Marner was on pace to crack the 100-point mark for the first time in his career. That’s out of the question now, as he’d need 24 points in his final seven games to accomplish the feat, but it shouldn’t take away from a fourth truly exemplary season from the 2015 fourth-overall pick. He’s averaged over 1.2 points per game in each campaign over that span and has recorded expected ratings upward of +14 every time, firmly planting himself in the conversation for one of the best two-way wingers in the world. His 30 goals and 99 points last season while averaging 2:17 per game on the penalty kill earned him a Selke Trophy nomination for the first time, although he’s earned votes for the honor in five straight seasons.
His return allows Keefe to ice Matthews, Marner, and leading assist-getter William Nylander on three separate lines, something he hopes creates matchup headaches for opposing coaches when the playoffs begin later this month. The Leafs have made the playoffs every season in Matthews’ career but have failed to advance past the second round.
Injury Updates On Morgan Rielly, Joel Edmundson
- Line rushes indicate top Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly will return tonight against the Lightning after missing four games with an upper-body injury, David Alter of The Hockey News relays. The 30-year-old will return to a top-pairing role flanked by Ilya Lyubushkin, who have controlled 56% of expected goals in 92 minutes together since the latter was re-acquired from the Ducks on March 1, per MoneyPuck. Rielly is averaging 23:49 per game this season, the second-highest mark of his career, and has 51 points in 65 contests. He’s missed nine games on the whole this season, including a five-game suspension in February for cross-checking Senators forward Ridly Greig. 40-year-old Mark Giordano, who had one goal in three games since returning from a concussion, exits the lineup to accommodate Rielly.
Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Jacob Quillan To ELC
The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed free-agent college forward Jacob Quillan to a two-year entry-level contract. A native of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Quillan spent the last three seasons at Quinnipiac University where he posted 38 goals and 55 assists in 116 career NCAA games.
The 22-year-old also won a national championship last year with the Bobcats, scoring the overtime winner to secure the men’s NCAA title. He also took home the Frozen Four’s Most Outstanding Player award.
Elliotte Friedman is reporting that there was a lot of competition for Quillan’s services and it’s easy to see why after the season that he had. This year he assumed the role of top-line center with Quinnipiac, and he registered 17 goals and 29 assists in 39 games.
The Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) drafted Quillan in the 2018 entry draft, but he opted for the college route, although before beginning his NCAA career, Quillan played one season with the Penticton Vees in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). In that one season, he posted 13 goals and 14 assists in 20 games and also scored an overtime winner to help his team win the Okanagan Cup.
The contract begins next season and will carry an average annual value of $875K at the NHL level. Quillan will spend the remainder of this season with the Maple Leafs AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies. He will play out the year on an amateur tryout to be eligible for the AHL playoffs.
Maple Leafs Recall Marshall Rifai
- The Maple Leafs announced they’ve brought up defenseman Marshall Rifai from AHL Toronto for the second time in three days. It’s an emergency loan, per CapFriendly, indicating he’ll serve as injury insurance ahead of tonight’s game against the Panthers and will likely return to the minors tomorrow. The 26-year-old landed his first NHL deal last summer after spending 2022-23 on an AHL contract with Toronto and made his first two NHL appearances in February, logging a shot on goal, a block and four hits while averaging 11:40 per game. Rifai coming up to the active roster today confirms that Morgan Rielly, who’s already missed three games with an upper-body injury, isn’t ready to return. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters that Rielly is “close to 100 percent” and will practice tomorrow, meaning he could return for Wednesday’s key clash for playoff positioning against the Lightning (via David Alter of The Hockey News).
Maple Leafs Place Mitch Marner On LTIR
March 31: Toronto assigned Rifai back to AHL Toronto on Sunday, per a team announcement. He did not play in Saturday’s 3-0 win over the Sabres. The Maple Leafs now have enough cap space to activate Marner from LTIR ahead of his anticipated return later this week.
March 30: The Maple Leafs have made a pair of roster moves heading into their game tonight in Buffalo. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Mitch Marner has been placed on LTIR retroactive to March 7th for what they’ve termed as roster management purposes. In doing so, they opened up enough salary cap space to recall defenseman Marshall Rifai from AHL Toronto.
Marner has been out since March 7th with an ankle injury, a significant blow to Toronto’s lineup. Before the injury, the 26-year-old was doing quite well, collecting 25 goals and 51 assists in 62 games, a point-per-game pace that would have given him a legitimate opportunity to reach the 100-point mark after coming up just short on that front in each of the last two seasons.
As part of the LTIR requirements, a player must miss 10 games and 24 days before being eligible to be activated. Tonight’s game will be the tenth game that Marner misses while the 24-day mark will be reached on Sunday. It was noted yesterday that Marner is expected back at practice on Tuesday and this placement will not affect those plans.
As for Rifai, this is his second recall of the season after being up for a few days in February. During that stretch, he did get into a pair of games with the Maple Leafs, his first taste of NHL action. The 26-year-old has spent most of the season in the minors with the Marlies, picking up 17 points in 49 contests.
The Leafs have been hit hard with injuries on the blueline in recent days with Morgan Rielly, Joel Edmundson, and Timothy Liljegren all being banged up. It appears Rifai’s recall will serve as a hedge in case another veteran blueliner is unable to go against the Sabres.
Atlantic Notes: Marner, Rielly, Greenway
Jonas Siegel of The Athletic reports that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner is expected back at practice next Tuesday. Marner has not been in the lineup for the Maple Leafs since their March 7th contest against the Boston Bruins, suffering a high ankle sprain for the last three weeks.
Suppose Marner can attend practice earlier next week as a full participant. In that case, he should be able to return to the lineup in the team’s ever-important matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday, or against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
Given that the standings in the Atlantic Division continue to narrow, the Maple Leafs could certainly use the injection of Marner back into the lineup. Producing well over a point-per-game average for the sixth straight season, Marner has scored 25 goals and 76 points in 62 games for Toronto this season, sitting third on the team in scoring.
Other Atlantic notes:
- Sticking with the Maple Leafs, defenseman Morgan Rielly is not expected back for the team’s game this Saturday, but is progressing well from his injury according to David Alter of The Hockey News. Carrying a key role on the team similar to Marner, Rielly has been the most productive defenseman in Toronto for quite some time. This season, Rielly has already scored seven goals and 51 points in 65 games, which would make for the third-best season of his career if the season ended today.
- Moving southeast to Buffalo, forward Jordan Greenway is expected back for the Buffalo Sabres tonight per a report from Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio. In now his first full season with the Sabres organization, Greenway has been a key secondary scorer for Buffalo, scoring nine goals and 24 points while averaging 17:12 a game.
Maple Leafs Sign Simon Benoit To Three-Year Extension
The Maple Leafs announced Friday that they’ve signed defenseman Simon Benoit to a three-year extension. The deal is worth $4.05MM, carrying an AAV and cap hit of $1.35MM. His salary is evenly distributed across all three seasons with no signing bonuses, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports.
Benoit, 25, has played a larger role than expected in Toronto this season and has quickly become a fan favorite. Few expected the Quebec native to even make the NHL after he went undrafted and failed to secure an NHL deal when his time in major junior hockey with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes ended in 2018. He began his professional career on a minor league contract with AHL San Diego in 2018-19, impressing with a defensively sound rookie season and earning an entry-level contract from the Ducks near the end of the season.
It was still a while before he’d make his NHL debut, receiving a couple of short recalls in 2019-20 that didn’t result in any major league action. His first shot came near the end of the 2020-21 campaign, where he impressed with a positive shot-attempt share at even strength in heavy defensive usage while logging 17:12 per game across six appearances.
Benoit didn’t make the Ducks out of camp in 2021 but wasn’t in the minors for long, breaking onto the NHL scene for most of the season and notching a goal and four assists in 53 showings. His possession numbers dragged slightly but were still above acceptable for a depth defender on a rebuilding and defensively challenged team. He then earned a qualifying offer from Anaheim, who re-signed him to a one-year, two-way deal for 2022-23.
Last season, injuries forced Benoit into a top-four role with the Ducks, who remain the worst defensive team of the salary cap era, allowing 4.09 goals per game. Unsurprisingly, Benoit’s boxcar stats read as some of the worst in the league, recording 10 points and a -29 rating in 78 games while playing over 19 minutes per game, often saddled with the defensive responsibility of covering for the rather one-dimensional John Klingberg at even strength as his partner. His possession metrics struggled as a result, although maybe not as much as expected. He logged a 41.4 CF% at even strength, which was only two points worse than his off-ice CF% despite 63.8% of his zone starts coming in the defensive end.
However, with Anaheim looking to make room for a deep group of young defense prospects like Jackson LaCombe, Pavel Mintyukov and Olen Zellweger, they opted to not qualify Benoit last summer and let him reach unrestricted free agency, where the Leafs picked him up on a one-year, league-minimum deal, also the first one-way contract of his career. Still, most expected Benoit to serve as the eighth or ninth option on the organization depth chart behind other depth defenders like Klingberg, who also signed a one-year deal with Toronto over the summer, veteran Mark Giordano, and Conor Timmins.
He did end up beginning the season with AHL Toronto, clearing waivers near the end of training camp. Just two days later, an early-season rash of injuries over the Toronto blue line forced Benoit’s first recall of the season. After bouncing up and down between leagues over the next two months, he was permanently recalled to the Leafs on Nov. 27 and hasn’t looked back.
With Klingberg’s season finishing prematurely due to a lingering hip injury and Giordano, Timmins and Timothy Liljegren all missing significant time, Benoit has made 54 appearances for the Leafs, scoring once and adding four assists. His even-strength CF% has rebounded to 49.3, and he’s controlled possession quality at the best rate of his career, posting a 50.3 xGF%. While a decrease in ice time and some easier matchups certainly help, he’s been on the ice for 0.54 expected goals against per game this year compared to 0.96 last season with Anaheim. He also leads Toronto with 205 hits.
Benoit has continued to factor in down the stretch with the Leafs still cycling through injuries on defense, even skating in a top-pairing role alongside Jake McCabe in last night’s 5-1 win over the Capitals. His role in the postseason once players Liljegren, Joel Edmundson and Morgan Rielly are ready to return from their injuries is less clear, though.
The physical 6’3″ blue-liner now gets legitimate stability for the first time in his professional career and will continue in a depth role for Toronto until his deal expires in 2027. He’ll be a UFA upon expiry.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Snapshots: Cates, Fast, Liljegren
The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that forward Noah Cates will be out on Thursday due to personal reasons (Twitter link). Cam Atkinson will step back into the lineup in his place, marking the first game Atkinson has played since March 16th. The veteran Atkinson will step back into the lineup looking to snap a 16-game scoring drought. He’s managed 25 shots in that stretch, though his only other stat changes have come via a -9 and, interestingly, the first fight of Atkinson’s 10-year career. He squared off against Tampa Bay forward Michael Eyssimont, who used his two-inch size advantage to pummel Atkinson.
Atkinson is taking on more grit and responsibility as he finds himself fighting for a consistent spot in the lineup. The Flyers will hope he can find his groove soon, as he fills in for Cates’ role on the fourth-line. Cates has just 13 points through 51 games this season – a far step down from his 38 points as a rookie last year. He’s sacrificed scoring for a much more poised, all-around role, improving his faceoff percentage by five percent this season and yet to record a penalty this season. Atkinson will face pressure from healthy scratches Garnet Hathaway and Nicolas Deslauriers if he can’t make an impact quickly.
Other notes from around the league:
- Jesper Fast will miss his fifth straight game on Thursday, per NHL.com’s Walt Ruff (Twitter link). Fast has been recovering from an upper-body injury and returned to the team’s practice in a no-contact jersey. He’s served in a quaint role when healthy, managing six goals and 18 points in 66 games while averaging 12:48 in ice time. Jack Drury and Stefan Noesen have gained a boost in ice time with Fast out, though Carolina could also lean on healthy scratch Brendan Lemieux if needed.
- Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren has been removed from the team’s lineup on Thursday, per NHL Network’s David Alter (Twitter link). He was a late call for head coach Sheldon Keefe and will now miss the game with an upper-body injury. Liljegren’s absence opens the door for Mark Giordano to return to the lineup, marking his first game since February 29th. Giordano, the NHL’s oldest player, has one goal and seven points in 38 games this season.