Leafs $87,000 Short of Being Able to Ice Full Lineup, Forced to Place Forward on LTIR

Coming into this season, it was very clear that the Toronto Maple Leafs were going to be a salary cap team.

Unfortunately, nobody could have planned for the amount of injuries to key players that the team would have to endure, which has put them in a precarious position when it comes to cap space.

Not only have the Leafs been missing Calle Jarnkrok all year, but they were also missing Joseph Woll and Jani Hakanpaa for a lengthy run to begin the season as well.

Now, as we approach the final week and a half of November, the Leafs find themselves in an even more challenging spot when it comes to the cap. With Auston Matthews, Max Pacioretty and David Kampf also sidelined now, the cap situation has taken a very rough turn in Toronto

How tight was the Leafs' cap situation? They were $87,000 short of being able to recall Grebenkin, which necessitated the team moving Kampf to LTIR, which means that the Czech forward is now ineligible to return until the middle of December.

The Leafs have already had to make a difficult decision, trading away Timothy Liljegren in order to free up some valuable cap space. Now, it's becoming abundantly clear that they're going to have to make at least one more significant trade to fit everyone in when the team approaches full health.

In the meantime, Grebenkin's recall has provided him with a unique opportunity to make his NHL debut a lot sooner than originally anticipated.

Grebenkin actually passed up his opportunity to spend his day with the Gagarin Cup after winning his first KHL championship last season.

He did this with the intention of kicking off his North American hockey career earlier than expected with the hope of expediting his path to the NHL. Tonight will be the first of what will likely be many, many NHL games for Grebenkin, who appears to have a very bright future.