NHL taxi squads returning; Leafs call up 5 players to taxi squad
The NHL will be reimplementing the taxi-squad once teams return from the extended holiday break. Teams are now allowed to have a 6 player taxi-squad as well as the use of emergency recalls as a result of COVID-19.
It is being reported by CapFriendly that the Leafs have recalled: forward Kyle Clifford, defencemen Alex Biega, Carl Dahlstrom, and Filip Kral, as well as goaltender Joseph Woll to the taxi-squad.
The Leafs still have one more taxi-squad spot available to use but have now added both youth and experience between the 5 players as the Leafs continue to battle COVID-19.
To get a picture of how COVID-19 has impacted the Leafs over the last week or so, Steve Dangle posted the lineup below, with the name of each player in protocol omitted.
https://twitter.com/Steve_Dangle/status/1475111840518750212
John Tavares came off of COVID-19 protocol today and Alexander Kerfoot, Wayne Simmonds, and Jason Spezza are eligible to return tomorrow if their testing goes well.
The Leafs' next game is scheduled for Wednesday, December 29th against the Pittsburgh Penguins, in Toronto. With both Jack Campbell and Petr Mrazek in protocol, the Leafs currently have just one goalie eligible to play on Wednesday.
