After sending defenceman Henry Thrun to the Toronto Marlies on Sunday morning, the Leafs then stunned fans when they placed 27-year-old Marshall Rifai on waivers.
With Chris Tanev healthy, the Leafs had eight defencemen on their roster, leading to Henry Thrun being sent to the Toronto Marlies on Sunday morning.
In addition to Tanev being healthy, Brandon Carlo has resumed skating following surgery on his foot in early December and appears to be close to a return.
Leafs Place Rifai on Waivers
As the blueline gets healthier, bodies will have to be shuffled around and unfortunately for Marshall Rifai, a trip to waivers seemed inevitable.
Rifai had his season derailed following a wrist injury that required surgery in the pre-season. The 27-year-old has been skating for the past month and recently completed his conditioning stint with the Marlies.
As much as the Leafs would like to keep Rifai on the roster, they don't have any space to do so. Unfortunately, that led to Rifai being placed on waivers Sunday afternoon and the hope is that they are able to sneak him through and get him into some games for the Marlies.
Rifai has played just two NHL games for the Leafs, but is highly thought of within the organization, given his abrasive and physical style of play.
Had he not suffered a wrist injury during training camp, he likely would have been on the roster over the likes of Philippe Myers and likely would've been called up instead of Dakota Mermis.