Leafs announce roster call-up ahead of Game 1 against Tampa
After months of reciting "the regular season doesn't matter", the playoffs are finally upon us! The Leafs have drawn the Tampa Bay Lightning once again and are hoping not to repeat history with another Round 1 loss. This year, the Buds have a much deeper team at every position and have shown throughout the season that they can be a consistently good hockey team. Now, though, it's put up or shut up time.
The Leafs will be entering the playoffs largely healthy, minus only Jake Muzzin, Nick Robertson and Matt Murray - the latter of which doesn't appear to be too far off. Murray suffered a concussion earlier this month while playing against the Detroit Red Wings after Lucas Raymond lost an edge and slid into the unsuspecting goaltender, causing him to fall and strike his head off of the ice.
Most were hoping that Murray would be able to make it back in time for the playoffs, but until the beginning of last week, Murray was still symptomatic and only began skating later on in the week. There's no question that if the Leafs go on a bit of a run, Murray will have his chance to return to the lineup. However, their most recent roster move would indicate that it likely won't be for Games 1 and 2.
Per the Leafs' official PR account on Twitter, the team has called up Erik Kallgren to act as their emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) for the playoffs. As we all know, during the season, if a team is at risk of not having sufficient cap space to recall a goaltender, or if both rostered goalies are injured in a game, the league has EBUG's on standby who can step in and play. In the playoffs, at least teams have the luxury of using their own guys in such a role.
Kallgren has had an up and down season - there's no question. He appeared in 10 games at the start of the season after both Murray and Samsonov went down due to injury. During that run, he had some decent outings and a few rough ones, which is to be expected from an inexperienced goaltender, posting a 3-2-4 record to go along with a .898 SV% and a 2.67 GAA. However, when he was sent down to the Marlies, he struggled mightily, posting a 10-9-2 record, with a .883 SV% and a 3.26 GAA.
Still, with 24 NHL games under his belt, having Kallgren around instead of a more traditional EBUG, like U of T's G Jett Alexander or Windsor Spitfire's G Matt Onuska is a bit of a step up from that level, which is important in the playoffs. Let's just hope that Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll can remain healthy and that Matt Murray can work his way back to 100% sooner than later. The last thing the Leafs want to be hanging their playoff hopes on in an important year is the club's 4th string goalie.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 18 | 437 ANSWERS Leafs announce roster call-up ahead of Game 1 against Tampa Will Erik Kallgren actually see action for the Leafs in the playoffs? | ||
| Yes | 56 | 12.8 % |
| No | 297 | 68 % |
| Dear God, I hope not | 84 | 19.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
