The Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled defenceman Marshall Rifai from the AHL's Toronto Marlies on an emergency basis as the team continues to juggle with injuries.
The move comes after William Lagesson was forced to leave Saturday's game against the Anaheim Ducks with an upper-body injury. Lagesson saw just 1:31 of ice time before being forced to exit the game. The Leafs were already without captain John Tavares in Saturday's 9-2 win with a minor injury, as well as defenceman Morgan Rielly due to a five-game suspension.
Rifai joined the Leafs as an undrafted free agent signing an AHL deal before agreeing to a two-year deal last off-season. The 25-year-old has two goals and 11 points in 34 games this season in the AHL.
"He's got some NHL attributes," said head coach Sheldon Keefe of Rifai, after Sunday morning's practice. "He skates extremely well, moves around the ice, closes space. He's physical, a competitor. So there's attributes that you really like. And with the uncertainty with our defenceman, that we have right now, we needed an extra body."
To make room on the roster, the Leafs loaned goaltender Dennis Hildeby to the Marlies.
Toronto is set to start a four-game road trip with a Monday afternoon game against the St. Louis Blues at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sportsnet.
Keefe did not have an update on Lagesson's status and admitted that "he, along with a host of others, will be a game-time decision for tomorrow, especially with it being a 12 o'clock game (in St. Louis) and less time to sort through things. ... At this point, quite honestly, I don't have any real sense of what our lineup will look like tomorrow."
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