The Toronto Maple Leafs are off until Wednesday and the Marlies take the Manitoba Moose in two periods of a makeup game on Monday.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have brought down their active roster to a minimum of 20 players by sending down three players to the Toronto Marlies on Monday.
Forwards Pontus Holmberg and Alex Steeves and goaltender Joseph Woll were the players sent down. The Marlies are set to resume a game against the Manitoba Moose on Monday after the game was suspended last month when a fan experienced a medical emergency during the first intermission.
The 23-year-old Holmberg has five goals and eight assists in 35 games in his rookie season with the Maple Leafs.
Steeves made his season debut during the Maple Leafs home-and-home series with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He twice had scoring opportunities which nearly led to his first NHL goal.
Woll made his season and home debut on Saturday and made 36 saves in a 4-3 loss to the Blue Jackets. Although a .900 save percentage doesn't look great, he wasn't a reason they had lost the game.
Instant Analysis
This is likely another example of the Maple Leafs utilizing a long stretch of days off to get their players into games. Although it's fair to think that something could be up. The Leafs only have one goaltender on their roster as a result of the player being sent down, although in all three players' cases, they do save a day's worth of NHL pay.
If a trade or any other transaction were to occur, the Maple Leafs would need to make some roster room and sending three players down certainly achieves that. However, that likely would have occurred in conjunction with the transaction.
Update:
The collective bargaining agreement prevents teams from having less than two goaltenders on an active roster. The Leafs later called up Erik Kallgren from the Marlies as a corresponding move. Given that Kallgren's call-up wasn't announced, it's likely a paper transaction move to give Woll a game to play.