Leafs make controversial roster decision in Ryan Reaves' absence
With Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves out with a lower-body injury, which he suffered during a freak accident on Thursday night, the Leafs made a surprising recall ahead of their game tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Leafs recalled Pontus Holmberg from the Toronto Marlies. The recall of Holmberg is surprising given the fact that the Leafs have struggled with secondary scoring at times this season and another Marlies forward would certainly help in that regard.
Marlies forward Alex Steeves set a franchise record for the Marlies last night recording a point for the fourteenth straight game. With Reaves injured, many had believed that due to Steeves' hot start to the season that he would be in line for a few games with the Leafs. Unfortunately, the Leafs chose to go with a more defensive player in Holmberg.
Steeves has 11 goals and 19 points over his 14 game streak and on the season has 22 points in 17 games with the Marlies and was certainly deserving of the opportunity. Holmberg is known for his defensive game and penalty killing abilities, which could be the reason why he was called up instead. Having Holmberg would allow head coach Sheldon Keefe to play his fourth line more and start them more in the defensive zone to reduce the minutes of his top players for a few games.
Holmberg, while not as offensively adept as Steeves, is still performing quite well with the Marlies this season. Holmberg has amassed 10 points in 11 games thus far. He has also skated in 7 games with the Leafs earlier this season, but has not yet registered a point.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 16 | 618 ANSWERS Leafs make controversial roster decision in Ryan Reaves' absence Should the Leafs have called up Alex Steeves instead? | ||
| Yes, Steeves deserved the recall | 403 | 65.2 % |
| No, Holmberg is a fine recall | 215 | 34.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
