No more taxi squad; Leafs send four, including Nick Ritchie, down to the Marlies
In case you weren't aware, the taxi squads that had been available to NHL teams over the past few months are no longer available as of this weekend, which means teams have to adjust accordingly and figure out who is being sent down to the minors.
According to CapFriendly, it appears the Leafs have already disassembled their taxi squad and have sent defensemen Timothy Liljegren and Carl Dahlstrom, along with forwards Kyle Clifford and Nick Ritchie down to the Marlies.
I think the demotion of Liljegren is strictly for the weekend to get him some game action with the Marlies and rebuild his confidence a bit as he has had a tough couple games with the big club. His being waiver exempt, however, means that he could end up being the odd-man out in Toronto this season if there is a bit of a log jam on the blueline.
The Leafs have just over $1.3 million in cap space with the demotion of Ritchie, Clifford, Dahlstrom and Liljegren, but I would expect Liljegren to be back with the big club post All-Star break. Clifford and Ritchie on the other hand, will likely be suiting up for the Marlies for the foreseeable future, barring any injuries or trades in the coming weeks. Interestingly enough, it also opens up an additional roster spot for the Leafs to finally sign Ho-Sang to an NHL deal upon his return from the Olympics.
I believe that the Leafs may give Ritchie one final shot with the big club near the end of the season or bring him and Clifford in for the playoffs to add some much needed playoff size to the roster, but I don't expect them to play too many, if any games with the Leafs the rest of the season and who can blame them? The boys are rolling with 5 straight wins and are coming off of a huge 7-1 blowout win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday.
The Leafs are next in action on Monday when they host the Carolina Hurricanes, following the conclusion of the All-Star festivities this weekend.
