Maple Leafs Activate John Tavares, Recall Artur Akhtyamov

The Maple Leafs have made a pair of roster moves in advance of their game tonight against Montreal.  Per the NHL’s media site, Toronto has activated forward John Tavares off injured reserve and recalled goaltender Artur Akhtyamov from AHL Toronto.

The activation of Tavares should come as no surprise after he was a full participant in practice on Friday.  The 36-year-old has missed the last nine games with a lower-body injury, stalling what had been another strong start to his season.  Before being sidelined, Tavares had two goals and five assists in his first seven appearances.

Tavares should slot back in on Toronto’s second line, though it remains to be seen if he’ll go back down the middle or line up on the wing in the short term.  A natural middleman, there has been talk of trying to shift him to the wing at times, which would allow Nick Paul to stay down the middle on the second line.  He’ll likely take the place of either Vinni Lettieri or Zack MacEwen in their lineup against Montreal, giving a boost to a Maple Leafs offensive group that is already among the best in the league.

Meanwhile, this is Akhtyamov’s second recall of the early season.  He received a brief recall last month to serve as the backup for a couple of games, allowing both Sergei Bobrovsky and Anthony Stolarz to have a full game of rest.  It appears that’s the plan here as well, as TSN’s Mark Masters relays (Twitter link) that Bobrovsky is expected to start tonight and Stolarz on Sunday in New Jersey.  That could have Akhtyamov in line to serve as the backup for both games this weekend before heading back to the Marlies, where he has a 2.97 GAA with a .876 SV% in seven appearances so far this season.

With these two moves, Toronto’s active roster is now full at 23 players.