Leafs make surprising roster move following the NHL's roster freeze
As of midnight last night, the NHL's annual Holiday Roster Freeze went into effect. That means that there can be no trades, waivers, or loans until December 28th. With that being said, however, the Toronto Maple Leafs made one roster move following the roster freeze taking place, loaning a defenseman back to the Toronto Marlies this morning.
Per the Leafs' official PR team, the team has sent Maxime Lajoie back to the American Hockey League. There are two reasons why the Leafs were able to make the move. The first being that Lajoie did not require waivers and the second being that he was recalled after December 11th. Players recalled after that date are eligible to be loaned to minor league teams until December 23rd.
Lajoie has not played since last Tuesday against the New York Rangers and with the Marlies playing tonight, it will give him an opportunity to get back into game action immediately. Additionally, with the return of Timothy Liljegren, the Leafs had eight defensemen on their roster and with where Lajoie is on the depth chart, he was not going to see a game for the Leafs any time soon.
In 4 games with the Leafs this season, Lajoie has zero points, three hits, five blocks and has averaged 9:32 of ice time. While his presence in the lineup may seem somewhat irrelevant at a glance, it's worth noting that he did play pretty well in sheltered minutes against some tough competition over the last couple of weeks while the Leafs were battling illness and injury.
