The Toronto Maple Leafs Recall Top Prospect Fraser Minten

The injury bug continues to run through the Toronto Maple Leafs roster with David Kämpf being the latest to join the Injured Reserve (IR) list.

The Toronto Maple Leafs press release account tweeted out Tuesday morning that Kämpf was put on the IR retroactive to November 16. While at first glance it appears to be big news losing another center, however, due to the schedule the Czech born center could just miss a single game, as the bare minimum of the IR placement will expire before they play a second game.

In response to Kämpf being place on the IR, the Maple Leafs have opened up a roster spot and the organizations top center prospect Fraser Minten has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies. The 2022 second round pick had just started his season after sustaining a high ankle sprain during rookie camp back in early September.

In five games since joining the Marlies, Minten has collected a pair of goals and four points total centering Nikita Grebenkin and Alex Nylander.

When he was drafted by the Maple Leafs 38th overall there was not much thought of the Vancouver native but he made management take notice during the 2023 training camp that earned him a four game audition to start the season. Had the club not run into some salary cap issues he likely would have stayed longer, but the team had to send him back to junior or risk losing someone else on waivers.

Toronto Maple Leafs center depth has been atrocious

Any type of offence output that Minten can bring will outshine the team's bottom three centers as Max Domi, Pontus Holmberg and Kämpf have combined for zero goals this year.

The injury to Kämpf may be a blessing in disguise as it will give coach Craig Berube a chance to evaluate not just Minten as the third line center, but also see Holmberg on the fourth line to see if the team can move on from their current fourth line center. Kämpf has always struggled to create any type of offence and has yet to record a goal this year, notching just three assists in 18 games, while carrying a $2.4 Million cap hit that has two more years after this that makes him the highest paid fourth liner in the NHL.

Going into Wednesday's game the team is still without captain Auston Matthews who has been out with an undisclosed injury for the last six games, while the team also announced Monday that Calle Järnkrok had hernia surgery and is listed as month-to-month.

Wednesday will also be the first game that Ryan Reaves will miss after being issued a five-game suspension for a vicious hit on Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse.