Leafs waste no time in assigning players to the Marlies during the All-Star break

I’m sure Pontus Holmberg would like a little rest too. I guess too bad for the rookie and as much as it might suck to hear his teammates tell him about their beach vacations next week, the best thing for the Leafs fourth line center is a chance to play a bigger role on the Marlies over the next few days.

Holmberg has played in 32 games for the Leafs this season with 5 goals, 8 assists, and has averaged 10:32 of playing time a night.

Pontus Holmberg is joined by Joseph Woll when it comes to returning to the Marlies, and they were both preceded by Bobby McMann. It’s very likely we’ll see more of McMann soon as well, but Woll is much more of a long haul move to the AHL and it’s hard not to see that as the best thing for him as well.

Where it gets a little interesting is if the Leafs want any of their other players to see some time in the AHL. With Joey Anderson playing tonight he now requires waivers to be returned to the Marlies. Jordie Benn is another possible candidate to play in the AHL, but would require waivers too. Given his limited usage, an intense Marlies week might not be a bad thing there as well.

We’ll see what happens Thursday at 2pm ET if anyone else will be Marlies bound, but odds are this is it and everyone else is off for some fun in the sun.

The Marlies only have two games between now and the next Leafs game on February 10th. Still enough time for a quick mini-break for Holmberg if he likes.