The @MapleLeafs announced today that the club has loaned defenceman Rinat Valiev to the @TorontoMarlies (AHL). #TMLtalk
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) January 26, 2018
Today the Maple Leafs sent Rinat Valiev to the Marlies. With All-Star weekend over the next few days, the Leafs aren’t busy, but the AHL doesn’t take so much time off.
The Marlies play today at home and tomorrow in Syracuse. The AHL All-Star game is this weekend with the skill even on Sunday and the game on Monday in Utica. The Marlies don’t play again until Friday, February 2, while the Leafs are back at work on Wednesday, January 31.
The curious thing is that Kasperi Kapanen, who is set to participate in the AHL All-Star weekend, is still on the NHL roster. We may find out that a substitution is coming for that game soon.
We may see some more roster shuffling before Wednesday, depending on the status of the Leafs’ three players on IR. The defence side of the roster could get too crowded for everyone the Leafs want, just like the forward roster is, but with Valiev back in the AHL there is room for one player to come off of IR. Who he’d bump from the lineup is another question entirely.
Relatedly, the trade deadline, and the end of the 23-man roster limit, is February 26.
