Nikita Soshnikov called up by Leafs, Corrado fake-freed

Photo Credit: Christian Bonin/TSGPhoto.com

The Toronto Maple Leafs have slightly shuffled the roster this afternoon, calling up Nikita Soshnikov from the Toronto Marlies.

There was a little bit of hesitation from some, as Soshnikov has just three points in his first six games with the Marlies and has played sporadically in multi-game weekends. But according to Mike Babcock, the staff were impressed with what they saw in Albany this weekend and feel that, after having a slow start of the year thanks to a late-summer injury, the 23-year-old is ready to go.

Soshnikov was one of the most impressive Leafs during the post-deadline stretch, putting up 5 points in 11 games while playing relatively possession-neutral hockey and injecting an infectious level of energy into the team.

Tonight, it looks like he’ll take Seth Griffith’s spot on the fourth line with Ben Smith and Matt Martin.

As well, our hopes and dreams (well, at least mine) were all lifted and re-shattered in one fell swoop. For a solid ten minutes, everyone believed that Frank Corrado was going to play tonight; he was taking line rushes with dressed players and everything.

Alas, it was later confirmed that the situation was just a mirage. Corrado will remain scratched, Matt Hunwick remains on the IR, and the starting six for tonight will be the same as they’ve been for the past few games.