If Michael Hutchinson clears waivers tomorrow, he can be assigned to the Marlies, although, if they choose to put Mitch Marner on LTIR, that’s not actually necessary.

They are expected, per McKenzie, to call up Kasimir Kaskisuo to play as the backup. They have a game on the road vs the Islanders and then yet another back-to-back on the weekend against Boston and then Pittsburgh on the road.

It will certainly be interesting to see Kaskisuo up against Sidney Crosby.

Kaskisuo, signed by the Leafs out of the NCAA as an undrafted free agent, has spent some time in the NHL, but has never appeared in a game outside of preseason.

While he has a nice-looking all-situations save percentage right now after eight games in the AHL (.928), his previous season high was a .914 he managed in 28 games with the Chicago Wolves.  He had a .896 last year in 30 games, but a  .927 in 12 playoff games. While Garret Sparks was on the roster in the AHL, Kaskisuo was always clearly his backup.

If Hutchinson does not clear waivers, the Marlies will need to recall Maksim Zhukov from Newfoundland. He has struggled in his few starts there. On the Marlies, Joseph Woll has been playing as the backup behind Kaskisuo, and Ian Scott is still listed as injured and has not played this season.

Toronto Marlies