Toronto Maple Leafs Organizational News & Notes – February 1

It’s a busy day in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization with the Leafs back in action tonight, as well as six prospects playing throughout the day:

Well, that was a fun night! The Toronto Maple Leafs shutout the New York Islanders Wednesday evening, with Travis Dermott and Justin Holl both scoring their first career NHL goals. Kasperi Kapanen, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner also found the back of the net, while Frederik Andersen posted his fourth shutout of the season.

The Leafs are once again in action tonight, up against the New York Rangers. After a great debut from Justin Holl, we’ll wait and see what happens regarding Roman Polak and Ron Hainsey’s illnesses.

According to the Leafs PR tweet, Polak was placed on injured reserve. This means he should be out for at least a couple games. Hainsey, on the other hand, was not placed on IR. He was listed as a game-time decision last night and could be good to go tonight. After Holl’s debut, however, Babcock could look to give Hainsey an extra day to recover if he isn’t 100%.

Jake Gardiner’s first period assist extends his point streak to a career-high six games. Since Morgan Rielly went down, Gardiner has really stepped up. His play significantly improved when he moved up to play with Hainsey, but he continued his strong play against the Islanders last night back with Nikita Zaitsev, upon his return to the lineup.

Toronto Marlies

The Toronto Marlies will return from their All-Star break tomorrow, away in Rochester against the Americans. As such, there wasn’t much in terms of news regarding the Marlies. That changed when Polak and Hainsey went down with an illness yesterday, resulting in AHL all-star Justin Holl being recalled on an emergency basis.

With Holl up with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Marlies are left with just six defencemen on the roster. As a result, the Marlies have signed Matt Petgrave to a PTO and called up Alex Gudbranson.

Petgrave joins the Marlies for the third time this season, where he has yet to dress in a game. The 26-year-old left-handed defenceman has 20 points in 36 games in his first professional season with the Brampton Beast. He recently participated in the ECHL All-Star Game as Brampton’s representative.

After an injury-plagued start to the year, Alex Gudbranson is up with the Marlies for the first time this season. He’s appeared in just 19 games for the Orlando Solar Bears this season, where he has recorded six points. Gudbranson is a right-handed defenceman, as the Marlies address both sides of the blueline in these two transactions.

Orlando Solar Bears

The ECHL schedule is Solar Bears free for the fourth consecutive day, but not to fear, as the best jerseys in hockey return to the ice tomorrow in North Charleston, South Carolina to play the Stingrays.

I’m still not sure why Cal Heeter is currently with the Marlies (I haven’t heard of a Pickard/Sparks injury), but the Solar Bears are left with just one active goalie as a result. SPHL netminder Mavric Parks (what a name) has been signed to be Orlando’s second goaltender until Heeter returns. The 27-year-old has a .914 save percentage and a 3.17 goals-against average with the Birmingham Bulls in 27 appearances.

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Additionally, forward Max Novak is back after a brief stint with the Marlies, where he did not dress. As mentioned earlier, Alex Gudbranson is now up with the Marlies. All-Star Nolan Valleau is on an AHL try-out for the second time this season, this time with the Chicago Wolves.

With Valleau and Gudbranson suddenly in the AHL, the Solar Bears have six active defencemen on the roster. We’ll have to wait until later in the day to see if Orlando makes a move to add an extra body to the blueline before their game against the Stingrays tomorrow evening.

Prospects

The only Toronto Maple Leafs prospects in action last night were up against each other, as the Saginaw Spirit and Keaton Middleton took on the Flint Firebirds and Fedor Gordeev.

The Firebirds topped the Spirit 3-2 in overtime, with Gordeev scoring the OT winner. He also picked up a primary assist on the powerplay earlier in the game. Gordeev’s two-point night was good enough to earn the second star. He did take two penalties, however, as his season line moves to five goals, 19 points, and 80 PIM in 47 games.

Middleton also got on the board with an assist on the man advantage. His season total is now up to four goals and 19 points in 44 games, surpassing his point total from last year.

Next: It's OK to Talk about Tavares

The Toronto Maple Leafs play the Rangers tonight and the Bruins Saturday in a preview of this spring’s opening round of the Playoffs.