KANATA, Ont. — Radim Zohorna is set to make his Toronto Maple Leafs debut when the team visits the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
The Maple Leafs called up Zohorna on an emergency basis on Friday after it was revealed by head coach Sheldon Keefe that Wayne Simmonds was sick. Simmonds did not accompany the team to Kanata.
Noel Acciari, who missed the last game with a neck injury, is also unavailable.
The Maple Leafs acquired the 6-foot-6 Zohorna from the Calgary Flames on Mar. 3 in exchange for forward Dryden Hunt. The Czech forward has spent all of his time in Toronto with the Marlies before his call up on Friday. In six games with the AHL club, Zohorna has regularly played in the top-six forward group and uses his big body to get to the net. He's was the net-front on one of the team's power-play units. He's physical, but doesn't hit a lot.
"Our scouting staff thought he had played very well for Calgary in the minors, in particular," Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas said of why they aquired the big man.
Zohorna generally prefers play at center but can play the wing as well.
"He's a big guy with some skill, we'll move him around the lineup," Keefe said of Zohorna.
The 26-year-old Zohorna's time with the Marlies has been limited as he suffered an upper-body injury and played just one game with them before his call to the Leafs on Friday.
In Zohorna's brief time with the Marlies, he has played in games with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, much like what the Leafs will deploy on Saturday. He had never experienced that formation at any level until getting to Marlies.
"The timing is right for him to come up because you never know what you might encounter and you may need him," Keefe said Zohorna, who will be Toronto's 40th skater to dress in a game this season.
The Czech forward has four goals and six assists in 33 NHL games split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Calgary Flames. He's in the final year of a two-year, $1.5 million contract and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
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