Keefe: Marner and Engvall to rejoin the Leafs tomorrow, and some pregame roster changes

Some quick news out of Sheldon Keefe’s media availability this evening…

The most exciting aspect of this is the return of Mitch Marner (and Pierre Engvall.) With the Leafs having a fully healthy forward group (knock on wood that something bad doesn’t happen tonight), the Leafs can roll their ideal lines.

This probably also means that if you are a fan of Nick Ritchie, you’ll want to tune in tonight because it may be a while before you see him again.

As for the second half of that news, with a gassed looking Leafs team going to a shootout last night, putting in a couple of reserve players into the lineup makes a ton of sense. Liljegren is an obvious choice, and I’m sure there won’t be any shortage of fans excited for his return. Playing against Arizona is a great chance for both Liljegren and Anderson to get back into a comfortable swing of things.

The downside of the move to put Liljegren in is that Sandin is coming out, and if Keefe is alluding to salary cap related shuffle, there is no one easier to shuffle than the waiver exempt Rasmus Sandin. Other options would include Clifford (who is still temporarily exempt from being waived) or Nick Ritchie. Though if Sandin and Clifford are out, it’s likely one of the two of them this go around. St. Louis will be a different story.