The Toronto Maple Leafs announced late on Friday that they have called up defenseman Max Lajoie from the Toronto Marlies.
In order to make room for the defenseman on their active roster, the Leafs moved David Kampf to the injured reserve. The defensive forward had already been ruled out for games this week due to an undisclosed injury he sustained before the NHL bye week.
It's also likely that the Maple Leafs have moved Calle Jarnkrok to long-term injured reserve (he was on regular injured reserve) with a broken knuckle). The Leafs only had roughly $35,000 in available cap space, per Puckpedia.com, before calling up Lajoie. Jarnkrok's move to LTIR frees up an additional $1.325 million in cap space (Jarnkrok's $2.1 million AAV minus Lajoie's 0.775 million AAV).
As it stands right now, the Leafs have nine defensemen, including Lajoie, on their active roster. It's an excessive amount that only seems necessary due to injury or precautionary reasons.
But some clues from Thursday's outdoor practice could explain why.
Maple Leafs defensemen Jake McCabe and Mark Giordano did not take part in the team's annual outdoor event at Nathan Phillips Square.
McCabe was the recipient of a late hit from Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment in the team's 5-4 victory on Wednesday.
"We think he'll be okay, we just wanted to make sure he got the day," Maple Leafs said specifically of McCabe. "He's a little banged up from yesterday, obviously."
Marchment was fined $5,000 by the NHL's Department of Player Safety for the hit.
Lajoie spent parts of his first two seasons in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators, whom the Leafs will visit on Saturday. With nine defensemen, it's not clear if he would actually get into the lineup with other players around.
The Maple Leafs had the day off the ice on Friday before traveling to Ottawa and the team's morning skate should reveal more details regarding the team's lineup at that point.
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