The Toronto Maple Leafs announced a slew of roster moves ahead of their tilt against the St. Louis Blues tonight, which included the absences of John Tavares and Mitch Marner due to illnesses, Morgan Rielly being suspended 5 games, Dennis Hildeby and Alex Steeves being recalled on emergency basis, and Max Lajoie being loaned back to the Toronto Marlies.
The moves apparently didn't stop there as the Leafs also transferred forward Calle Jarnkrok from the IR the LTIR. The 32-year-old forward last suited up for the Maple Leafs on the 24th of January, a 1-0 overtime victory against the Winnipeg Jets. He suffered through a broken knuckle on his left hand during the following Leafs practice and was originally slated as week-to-week.
Players landing on the LTIR are expected to miss 10 games and 24 days, but because he was shifted over late, it becomes retroactive and he is slated to miss at least the next 5 games to meet those requirements. The move also gives the Leafs $1,224,166 of usable cap space, which is probably what we should be focusing on here. If the Leafs didn't need the $1.2M for something, why make the roster transaction? Does GM Brad Treliving have something in the works?
In 46 games this season, Jarnkrok has scored 10 goals and 19 points after reaching career highs of 20 and 39, respectively, last year in 73 games. He was averaging 15:18 TOI, was second on the club with a plus-13 rating, and had above average analytical numbers.
Before succumbing to his injury, Jarnkrok was mired in a 20-game slump where he had scored just 3 goals and recorded no assists, including his last 9 games where he didn't record a single point. He was enjoying a relatively successful start to his season with 7 goals and 16 points in his first 26 games before hitting a bump in the road.
