Brendan Leipsic called up on emergency basis as Boyes suffers injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs have shuffled up the lineup a bit ahead of their game against the Minnesota Wild, sitting Brad Boyes out in favour of Brendan Leipsic, who has been called up on an emergency basis.

What makes this particularly interesting is the Boyes injury, which appears to have come out of thin air. Boyes has in and out of the roster throughout this season for rotational purposes, but at no point has he missed time due to an injury. Adding fuel to curiosity’s fire, Boyes not only finished the game yesterday, but was even on the ice for the last shift, desperately trying to tie the contest up.

At the same time, it would have been impossible to call Leipsic out without an injury attached to it. With the latest group of kids representing the team’s post-deadline call-up allocation, all moves moving forward have to come in emergency relief. If the Leafs wanted Leipsic to play; this was the only way. Nobody is going to cry foul, though; this is probably a blip on the loophole frustration radar for the 29 other NHL teams, who probably don’t seen the Leafs as a threat at this point in the year anyway.

In fairness, it’s probably just as likely that Boyes is feeling banged up and needs a maintenance day. But this speculation is just as fun. 

Leipsic was sent down by the Leafs on Monday to ensure his qualification for the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup Playoffs, which the Marlies are heavy favourites to go the distance in. He was the only player on the Marlies to go both pointless and shotless in their school day victory over the Albany Devils on Tuesday.

In four games with the Leafs this season, Leipsic has a goal and an assist.