Domi has been playing through a lingering lower-body injury while Grebenkin is expected to make his NHL debut.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed Max Domi on injured reserve and called up forward Nikita Grebenkin, the club announced Wednesday morning ahead of their game against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Domi has gone 13 games without scoring a point and the team has admitted that the forward has been playing banged up. But with injuries to players like Auston Matthews (upper-body), and Max Pacioretty (lower-body) among others, Domi has been playing through it.
Following practice on Tuesday, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube was asked if they would consider giving Domi a bit of a break had they had other players not on the sidelines.
"You know, it's always a discussion with him and see where he's at and how he's feeling and things like that," Berube said. "So, yeah, that's for sure (a possibility)."
Domi's placement on IR is retroactive to November 16th, meaning he would be eligible to return for Toronto's game on Sunday against the Utah Hockey Club.
The Leafs were already without David Kampf (lower-body) and called up Fraser Minten from the Marlies on Tuesday.
Nikita Grebenkin had a solid showing during training camp with the Maple Leafs. He has four goals and six assists in 13 games with the Toronto Marlies this season. The Leafs only have 12 forwards available on their active roster. Ryan Reaves is on the active roster, but is suspended. So unless Toronto goes 11 forwards and seven defensemen (which they haven't done this season), it's expected Grebenkin will make his NHL debut.
The 6-foot-2 Russian was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the fifth round (135th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft. Toronto signed him to a three-year, entry-level contract on Apr. 29.