Maple Leafs activate Trevor Moore from IR, assign him to Marlies for conditioning stint

He’s (almost) back, baby!

After suffering missing 15 games due to a shoulder injury suffered on November 15th, then returning on December 21st and immediately landing back on the shelf with a concussion, Trevor Moore has finally been activated from Injured Reserve this afternoon. In a corresponding move, the Maple Leafs assigned the 24-year-old winger to the Toronto Marlies for the purpose of a conditioning stint.

This is delightful news for a Leafs roster dealing with some horrid injury luck. Welcoming Moore back into the fold gives the team one more healthy piece at their disposal, which they assuredly need in their continued fight for divisional standing within the tightly-contested Atlantic.

Everyone knows how great Moore is, so let’s talk logistics.

The conditioning stint makes complete sense for Moore. Regardless of any rehab or off-ice work he happened to take part in while recovering from his various ailments, Moore has not seen consistent game action for the better part of the past two months. Such a lengthy lay off would be enough to mess with any athlete’s rhythm — unless that athlete is apparently named Zach Hyman, and it would be relatively unfair to thrust him back cold. Therefore, giving Moore a few games with the Marlies to get his legs back before joining the big club seems like the right move to make.

Now, how long will that stint be?

According to Article 13.8 of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement, a conditioning loan is permitted to last for a maximum of 14 consecutive days — essentially two weeks. Such a timeline establishes the latest possible date for Moore to return to the Leafs’ active roster as January 31st, right at the tail end of the team’s “bye week” and one day before their home-ice matchup with the Ottawa Senators.

Not to mention, the Marlies are set to play five games between today and the expiry of Moore’s conditioning loan. Those five games include two sets of back-to-backs — January 18th-19th and 24th-25th — which should serve as a crash course for Moore’s cardio. In the meantime, Leafs management has given themselves some breathing room in assessing their next corresponding move.

But forget all that. Trevor Moore is back, and life can return to normal once more.