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Maple Leafs call up red-hot Marlies forward, send veteran down

The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a swap at the forward position.
ByThomas Williams
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Apr 15, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs center Ryan Tverberg (77) skates in the first period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images
Apr 15, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs center Ryan Tverberg (77) skates in the first period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a call to get a different look in their bottom-six forward group ahead of one of the toughest stretches of their season.

Announced by the team on Tuesday morning, the Maple Leafs have recalled forward Ryan Tverberg from the Toronto Marlies. In a corresponding move, the Leafs then sent down winger Vinni Lettieri after he got some shine but hasn't really performed well enough.

Tverberg certainly deserved some recognition. He's only played in two NHL games so far in his career, both coming in last season and he earned zero points, but he's been playing fairly well for the Marlies after a tough start. The 24-year-old earned just two points in the first nine games of the AHL season, but since thne he's rejuvenated his scoring with two goals and five total points in his last five games.

Last season, in 63 games with the Marlies, Tverberg scored 15 goals and 36 points while being a plus-18. It's in the playoff where his scoring took a little jump, when he netted six goals and 14 points in 24 games on his way to winning the Calder Cup.

On the other side, Lettieri showed some jump but he was never able to keep it up for the NHL. The 31-year-old veteran scored one goal for his only point in nine games with the Leafs this season, while averaging fewer than 10 minutes a game. Now, they're getting a different look and we'll see how it pans out.

Leafs swap out AHL call-ups ahead of tough stretch

Whether it's for stylistic reasons or they just want to see if Tverberg can maybe get his season going with the confidence boost of making his NHL season debut, it is an extremely interesting time to be doing that.

The Leafs are facing a gauntlet this week. On Tuesday night they are hosting the Colorado Avalanche -- trying to handle a peeved Nathan MacKinnon in Toronto with a very banged-up roster is not a good recipe for success. Then, Quinn Hughes, Kirill Kaprizov, and Matt Boldy come to town as the Minnesota Wild visit the Leafs on Thursday. Perfect. Oh, and what's next? Who are they playing on the weekend? It's Connor McDavid. The Oilers are in Toronto on Saturday and might end up feeding on scraps after the two previous games take everything out of this team.

It's going to be a very big test for a group that is just trying to find out whether some players belong in the NHL, or can at least hang on for a week or so before being sent back down.

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