Toronto Maple Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs’ Roster Moves Headed into Winnipeg Jets’ Game

As the Toronto Maple Leafs head into the Winnipeg Jets’ game today, the team made a number of roster moves. What were they?

by
Old Prof
April 2, 2021

As the Toronto Maple Leafs prepare for tonight’s crucial game against the second-place Winnipeg Jets, there were a number of roster moves made in preparation. In this short post, I’ll try to help Maple Leafs’ fans keep up-to-date with these moves.

Item One: Frederik Andersen Will Miss a Few More Games

The latest news we have is that Frederik Andersen’s lower-body injury is responding to therapy and he’s making progress, but that he won’t be able to play for a few more games. The word is that the number will be “at least” three games.

Keefe said Andersen hasn't been on the ice yet since the injury resurfaced
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) April 1, 2021

That means he won’t join his team on this road trip, but – counting three games -he might be able to play Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens in Toronto. Andersen will be reassessed next week. He hasn’t skated since the lower-body injury resurfaced and he hasn’t played since March 19 against Calgary.

Item Two: Jack Campbell Projected to Be in Goal Tonight

The Maple Leafs are working hard to give current starting goalie Jack Campbell some time off from practices and are managing his workload as a way to keep him game-ready if not fully-practiced. In fact, I had thought that he might be more injured than the team let on. However, that looks as if it isn’t the case and that Campbell is just being dealt with cautiously.

It’s likely – given what we currently know – that Campbell will be in goal later this afternoon. That said, it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if Michael Hutchinson gets the start.

Item Three: Timothy Liljegren Moved to the Active Roster

Who knows what this means in today’s dynamic roster moves, but the Maple Leafs moved young Swedish defenseman Timothy Liljegren to the active roster on Thursday. That still might not mean that Liljegren has a chance of seeing NHL game action. In fact, it’s likely that his promotions to the active roster on the team’s off days are done as a way to help the team manage its salary cap.

Item Four: The Maple Leafs Send Alex Galchenyuk Back to Taxi Squad

Similarly, the Maple Leafs reassigned Alex Galchenyuk to the taxi squad on Thursday. Again, my guess is this is a salary-cap mediation that’s likely only on paper and the Galchenyuk-top-six experiment remains underway in Toronto.

Although Galchenyuk hasn’t lit up the scoresheet, but he does have three assists in his last six games. He’s also kept up well with the second-line of John Tavares and William Nylander. That’s where he’ll likely stay – on the team’s top-six forward units.

Item Five: New Goalie Veini Vehvilainen Moved to the Team’s Taxi Squad

Moving Veini Vehvilainen to the taxi squad on Thursday likely means that both Campbell and Hutchinson will be numbers one and two and will both dress for the Jets’ game tonight. Vehvilainen likely won’t play; however, he has a crucial role – just in case. He will continue to act as goalie depth for the Maple Leafs until Andersen’s able to return to the ice.