Viktor Loov recalled as Hunwick falls out of Toronto lineup

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue their shuffle of mysteriously (but probably legitimately) injured players, taking minute-eating defenceman Matt Hunwick out of the roster and replacing him with Swdish rookie Viktor Loov.

Hunwick did not leave yesterday’s shootout loss against the Buffalo Sabres before the final buzzer, but appears to have something nagging him. He did not participate in practice on Sunday and is out today as well. At this time, we don’t know what the injury is.

Loov comes in for his second tour of duty in his NHL career, having played four games in between February 18th and 25th. In those games, he picked up two assists, was a +4, threw eight hits, and was a -1.7% CF at even strength. Loov played very sheltered minutes, averaging 10:28 per game in extremely offensively-tilted situations. Upon returning to the Marlies, Loov picked up 2 goals and 2 assists in his next five games.

The Leafs return to the ice tomorrow night when they take on the New York Islanders at the Air Canada Centre.