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Jake McCabe

East Notes: Sabres, Glass, McCabe

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The Sabres are hoping to have a pair of veterans return to the lineup before the end of the regular season.  Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald notes that center Josh Norris (mid-body) and winger Jordan Greenway (lower body) are both progressing in their recovery from their respective injuries and that the plan is for them to play before the season ends in a couple of weeks.  Norris has missed the last ten games and has only suited up three times for Buffalo after they acquired him from Ottawa at the trade deadline.  He has 21 goals and 14 assists in 56 games this season.  Greenway, meanwhile, has battled injury trouble throughout the year, limiting him to just 34 appearances where he has only eight points.  While that’s not the ideal platform year heading into free agency, the two sides agreed on a two-year, $8MM extension before last month’s trade deadline.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • The Devils will welcome back one of their newest forwards this afternoon against the Rangers. Team reporters Marc Ciampa and Sam Kasan relay that center Cody Glass will return to the lineup after missing the last week and a half due to a lower-body injury.  The 26-year-old was acquired from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline and has been much more impactful since then.  After notching just 15 points in 51 games with his former team, Glass has two goals and four assists through eight games with New Jersey.
  • Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe won’t play tonight against Columbus and could be out longer, suggests Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun. The 31-year-old suffered an undisclosed injury late in Wednesday’s victory over Florida but while head coach Craig Berube listed him as day-to-day, he didn’t have any specifics about the injury including how it happened.  McCabe has been a key part of Toronto’s back end this season, notching 23 points, 135 blocks, and 118 hits in 66 games while averaging a career-high 21:31 per night of playing time.

Maple Leafs Reassign Marshall Rifai, Activate Jake McCabe

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Jan. 16: The Leafs announced they’ve activated McCabe as expected. Their active roster is full once again.

Jan. 15: The Maple Leafs reassigned defenseman Marshall Rifai to AHL Toronto on Wednesday, according to an announcement from the club. Toronto now has an open roster spot, which could be used to activate fellow blue-liner Jake McCabe from injured reserve before Thursday’s game against the Devils.

Rifai, 26, had been on Toronto’s roster since Jan. 6. Serving as an extra defender in McCabe’s absence, he was scratched for all four games on his recall.

The 6’2″, 213-lb lefty has been recalled from the AHL three times since clearing waivers during training camp, but they haven’t resulted in any game action. His only two career NHL appearances came with the Leafs last season, recording a plus-one rating and a shot on goal with four hits while averaging 11:40 of ice time.

Signed as an undrafted free agent to an AHL contract out of Harvard in 22, Rifai has slowly but surely worked his way up the organizational ladder over the past three years. The feisty defender’s continued development in the minors and strong training camp performances earned him a two-year, one-way extension worth $1.55MM in September, so while he hasn’t gotten any looks yet this season, the Leafs still envision him playing contests for them in the future.

Between call-ups, Rifai has two goals, two assists, four points, 24 PIMs, and a plus-eight rating in 26 AHL games. He’s serving as an alternate captain for the first time.

McCabe, 31, has missed four games with an upper-body injury he sustained on Jan. 5 against the Flyers when he hit his head on the ice following a fight with Garnet Hathaway. It’s his second upper-body injury, both suspected concussions, since the beginning of December.

Head coach Craig Berube told reporters Monday that McCabe is “doing really well” after he skated on his own before practice (via Nick Barden of The Hockey News). The stalwart lefty has missed nine games in total due to injury this season but is averaging a career-high 20:52 per game when in the lineup.

Atlantic Notes: Ullmark, McCabe, Stolarz, Rifai, Savard

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The Senators got some good news on the injury front on Friday as Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch notes that goaltender Linus Ullmark was back on the ice on Friday for the first time since suffering a back injury before the holiday break.  Head coach Travis Green indicated that he’s hopeful that the veteran will be able to return to practice soon which is the next hurdle to clear before he can return.  After a slow start to his season, Ullmark has a 1.48 GAA with a .957 SV% in his last ten outings which helped briefly propel them into one of the Wild Card spots in the East.  But since he went down, the Sens have won just one of their last seven games, making his eventual return a top priority.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic:

  • Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe skated today as he works his way back from an upper-body injury sustained in a fight last weekend, shares Nick Barden of The Hockey News (Twitter link). However, head coach Craig Berube noted that there’s no timeline for a return but that the veteran is doing well.  McCabe has 11 points, 68 blocks, and 72 hits in 36 games this season while his 20:52 ATOI – a career-high – sits third among Toronto defenders.
  • In a separate note from Barden (Twitter link), he relays that Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz could resume skating as soon as this week as he gets closer to returning from a knee injury. Stolarz underwent surgery last month and was given a timeline of four to six weeks to return.  Next week will mark the four-week mark so it appears he’s on track in his recovery.  The 30-year-old was off to quite a strong start before getting hurt as his .927 SV% through his first 17 starts still leads the league.
  • After papering him back to the Marlies on Thursday, the Maple Leafs have once again recalled defenseman Marshall Rifai, per the AHL’s transactions log. While banking cap space isn’t the goal here with Toronto, shuffling him down on non-game days delays his waiver clock.  Rifai played two games with the Maple Leafs last season, his only NHL action thus far.
  • The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that defenseman David Savard will return to the lineup tonight against Dallas. The veteran had missed the last four games with an upper-body injury.  A pending unrestricted free agent, Savard has 10 points, 90 blocks, and 31 hits in 35 games this season while logging 18:37 per night of playing time.

Maple Leafs Place Jake McCabe On IR, Recall Marshall Rifai

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Jake McCabe’s fight with Philadelphia Flyers’ Garnet Hathaway from Sunday night will have some lasting effects. McCabe won’t be in the lineup for the rematch tomorrow night as the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they’ve placed him on injured reserve and recalled defenseman Marshall Rifai in his stead.

The fight between McCabe and Hathaway ended with a scary sequence. As the pair were falling to the ice as the fight ended, Hathaway landed on McCabe’s head causing the injury. Toronto hasn’t offered an official diagnosis for McCabe’s injury but he did not return to game action.

It’ll be a sizeable loss for the Maple Leafs should McCabe miss significant time. He’s been a more than effective blue liner for Toronto since the organization acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks during the 2022-23 NHL season.

He has consistently averaged over 20 minutes per game in Toronto and was one of the team’s most physically imposing defensemen before they signed Chris Tanev this past summer. McCabe arguably had the best season of his career last year scoring eight goals and 28 points in 73 games while finishing second on the team with 219 hits.

The transaction is the second call-up this week for Rifai. He was originally recalled on New Year’s Eve to take the roster spot of the then-injured Auston Matthews and will now take the place of McCabe on the active roster.

He’ll likely become the team’s seventh defenseman giving the recently-extended Philippe Myers more time in the lineup. Despite the two call-ups, Rifai has only played for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies this year, recording two goals and four points in 26 contests.

Snapshots: Predators, Haula, Hurricanes, McCabe

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The Predators have recalled defenseman Kevin Gravel from AHL Milwaukee, per the AHL’s transactions log.  He’ll take the place of Jeremy Lauzon on the active roster who has been moved back to injured reserve.  Gravel has an assist in three games with Nashville so far this season but is likely to be in the seventh defender role for the time being.  He also has five points in 25 games with the Admirals.  Lauzon, meanwhile, just returned from injured reserve midway through last month, getting into six games before being sidelined with a lower-body injury once again.  He has one assist and 127 hits in 28 games thus far in just under 18 minutes a night of playing time.

Elsewhere from around the NHL:

  • The Devils announced (Twitter link) that center Erik Haula is listed as day-to-day with an ankle injury and is set to undergo further testing. Head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now that the veteran is going to miss some time.  It has been a rough year for Haula thus far as he has just five goals and six assists in 42 games.  Even extrapolated for a full season, his projected output would be well below the 44, 41, and 35 points Haula had in the last three years.
  • Hurricanes winger William Carrier was a late scratch from their game against Pittsburgh. The team announced (Twitter link) that he’s dealing with a lower-body injury.  The 30-year-old is in his first season in Carolina after signing a six-year deal with them over the summer and has nine points along with a team-high 136 hits in 39 games.  In a corresponding move, winger Juha Jaaska was brought back up from AHL Chicago, per the AHL’s transactions log, after being sent down on Thursday.  He made his NHL debut on Wednesday, playing 8:21 against Florida.
  • The Maple Leafs announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Jake McCabe suffered an upper-body injury in tonight’s game against Philadelphia and won’t return. The injury occurred in a fight late in the opening period.  McCabe has been an important part of Toronto’s back end, logging over 21 minutes a night while chipping in with 11 points, 68 blocks, and 75 hits in his first 35 games this season.

Leafs Notes: McCabe, McMann, Kampf, Stolarz

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have activated defenseman Jake McCabe off of injured reserve, per the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan. McCabe was moved to IR on December 7th, and hasn’t played since suffering a wrist injury while blocking a shot from Nicklaus Perbix in Toronto’s November 30th win over Tampa Bay. McCabe returned to full practice just two days after his IR placement and is expected to return to the lineup on Thursday.

That’s great news for the Maple Leafs, who have leaned heavily on McCabe this season. He’s averaged 21:20 in ice time through 23 games this season, narrowly leading the team’s blue-line in average time on ice – just two seconds ahead of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and seven seconds more than Morgan Rielly. McCabe has recorded five assists, a +11, and 21 penalty minutes in his opportunities. More encouraging, McCabe also ranks third among Leafs defenders in goals-against per-60 (GA/60) with a 1.22 average – just narrowly behind bottom-pair defenders Simon Benoit (1.17) and Conor Timmins (0.98). Those results will return McCabe immediately back to his top-pair, defense-oriented role next to summer addition Chris Tanev.

Other notes out of Toronto:

  • Forward Bobby McMann is also nearing a return to the lineup, head coach Craig Berube told David Alter of The Hockey News. McMann suffered a lower-body injury on November 27th and has since missed six games. He returned to practice on December 6th and could return to the lineup within a week, shares Alter’s colleague Evan Doerfler. McMann has continued his dazzling goal-scoring into this season, with six goals and an 11.5 shooting percentage in 21 games. He played his first full year in the NHL last season, netting 15 goals and 24 points in 56 games. McMann has proven a reliable middle-six winger on and off of the puck, and should slot back into the middle-six as soon as he returns.
  • Berube also shared with Alter that center David Kampf is still a ways away from returning. Kampf was placed on IR with a lower-body injury on November 19th, and hasn’t played since November 16th. He recorded three assists in 18 games as Toronto’s third-line center prior to his injury. Kampf has 75 points in 260 games over the last four seasons with Toronto, largely comprised of 26-point and 27-point seasons across his first two years with the team. He’ll eye a return in 2025, and may need to fight to regain a spot in the team’s top-nine.
  • Top Toronto goaltender Anthony Stolarz left the team’s Thursday game against Anaheim with a lower-body injury, shares Sportsnet. He seemed to suffer the injury on Anaheim’s first goal of the game, appearing in pain after stretching to try and make a save. Stolarz has been tremendous for the Leafs early on. He leads all goaltenders in save percentage, maintaining a .928 through 16 games this season – narrowly ahead of Filip Gustavsson and Connor Hellebuyck who each have a .927. Stolarz has added a 9-5-2 record to boot, performing well enough to earn the Leafs’ starting role while Joseph Woll sorted out injuries. Stolarz is an eight-year veteran of the NHL. He’s tallied a 99-52-36 record and .916 save percentage through 124 career games. Leafs fans and management alike will hold their breath for an update on his long-term health, after an injury that didn’t appear to be severe.

Utah Claims Dakota Mermis Off Waivers From Maple Leafs

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The Utah Hockey Club has added some veteran defensive depth in the form of Dakota Mermis, plucking him off the waiver wire from the Maple Leafs, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The Leafs’ other waiver placement yesterday, winger Alexander Nylander, passed through unclaimed and was immediately assigned to AHL Toronto, allowing them to activate defenseman Jake McCabe from injured reserve, according to a team announcement.

Utah has been in need of extra bodies on defense seemingly all season long after John Marino sustained a lower-back injury in preseason and Sean Durzi hurt his shoulder just four games into the campaign. Other names, such as Maveric Lamoureux and Robert Bortuzzo, have landed on the shelf in recent days, leading Utah to reach deep into its minor-league depth. Just yesterday, they recalled Kevin Connauton from AHL Tucson – a 34-year-old lefty who last saw NHL ice in the 2021-22 campaign.

Mermis isn’t a gigantic upgrade over internal options like Connauton, but he does have more recent NHL experience. The 30-year-old skated in a career-high 47 games with the Wild last season, posting eight points, a -2 rating, 33 PIMs, and 45 hits while averaging 14:05 per game. He inked a one-way contract with the Maple Leafs over the summer but sustained a jaw injury in training camp. He returned to action on a conditioning loan with their AHL affiliate over the past couple weeks, posting an assist in three outings, and had landed on waivers to continue his tenure in the minors after the two-week limit on his conditioning stint ran out.

Utah had 22 players on the active roster before making the claim for Mermis, so they won’t need to make a corresponding transaction.

Atlantic Notes: Domi, McCabe, Pastrňák, Greenway, Dahlin

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According to David Alter of The Hockey News, the Toronto Maple Leafs had a pair of injured players at practice today. Alter shared that forward Max Domi and defenseman Jake McCabe were full participants at today’s practice and the former could even return tomorrow (X Link).

It’s been nearly a month since Domi suited up for the Maple Leafs since his last game came on November 16th against the Edmonton Oilers. In the first year of a four-year, $15MM contract signed in Toronto this past offseason, Domi has tallied six assists in 19 games for the Maple Leafs while primarily centering the team’s second line.

McCabe has been out for a shorter time with his last contest coming on November 30th. Still, it’s encouraging to see both players at practice given Toronto currently has four players on injured reserve and another three on the long-term injured reserve.

Other Atlantic notes:

  • One notable absence of the Boston Bruins’ practice this morning was David Pastrňák who is reportedly out with an upper-body injury, according to Conor Ryan of The Boston Globe. Boston is hopeful that Pastrňák will be in the lineup tomorrow night against the Winnipeg Jets so the team hasn’t made a corresponding roster move. The Havirov, Czechia native has struggled lately scoring one goal in his last 11 contests.
  • Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News confirms that Buffalo Sabres’ winger Jordan Greenway will return to the lineup tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. He’s missed the last 10 games for the Sabres after scoring three goals and six points through his first 16 contests.
  • One player not returning to Buffalo’s lineup tonight is captain Rasmus Dahlin as the team announced he participated in a rehab skate this morning. There’s growing optimism that Dahlin will be able to return this weekend when the Sabres take on the Washington Capitals on Saturday. The first-year captain in Buffalo has scored three goals and 19 points in 25 games this season.

Maple Leafs Activate Max Pacioretty, Place Jake McCabe On IR

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The Maple Leafs have made a pair of roster moves heading into tonight’s game against Pittsburgh.  The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Max Pacioretty has been activated from LTIR.  To make room on the roster, blueliner Jake McCabe was placed on IR retroactive to November 30th.

Pacioretty will wind up missing only the minimum of 10 games since his placement last month when he sustained a lower-body injury against Montreal.  The 36-year-old has been limited to just 13 games so far in his first season with Toronto.  However, he has been relatively productive in those outings, collecting four goals and two assists despite averaging just 12:11 of playing time per night, a career low.

Pacioretty has already reached the first half of his $626,230 bonus pool when he played in his tenth game of the season early last month.  He needs to get to 35 to collect the other half of it so he’ll be looking to stay healthy the rest of the way.

As for McCabe, he has missed the last week due to an upper-body injury sustained against Tampa Bay at the end of November.  Thanks to the retroactive placement, he has already missed the required seven days and thus is eligible to be activated as soon as he’s cleared to return.

After putting up a career-high 28 points last season, the 31-year-old earned a five-year, $23.5MM extension back in late October.  However, he has been a bit quieter offensively so far this season, collecting just five assists through his first 23 games although he’s averaging a career-best 21:20 in playing time.  After being a frequent healthy scratch early on, Philippe Myers has played the last three games in McCabe’s absence.

Maple Leafs Notes: Hakanpää, McCabe, McMann

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Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said Thursday that defenseman Jani Hakanpää recently underwent a second minor procedure on his knee that shouldn’t keep him out of action for too much longer, per David Alter of The Hockey News.

Hakanpää, 32, has suited up only twice this season for Toronto after finalizing a one-year, $1.47MM deal late in free agency. He underwent a knee procedure early in the offseason after missing the last 13 regular-season and all 19 playoff games for the Stars, keeping him out of action until he got his season started in early November on an AHL conditioning stint.

The veteran defender, who was named to Finland’s roster for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off yesterday, suited up in back-to-back contests for the Leafs on Nov. 13 and Nov. 16 before exiting the lineup. Toronto moved him to injured reserve on Monday to open up a roster spot, and he’s eligible to return at any time. With Berube claiming that he should start skating soon, it’s fair to anticipate a return to action before the end of the month.

The 6’6″ Hakanpää posted a -1 rating and averaged only 14:05 per game across his two appearances, adding two shots, four blocks, and one hit. The stay-at-home defender was paired with Morgan Rielly, but the duo struggled defensively, controlling only 38.1% of expected goals and allowing 3.36 expected goals per 60 minutes, per MoneyPuck.

There’s more from Leafland today:

  • Defenseman Jake McCabe will remain out of the lineup tomorrow against the Capitals, Berube told reporters, including Mark Masters of TSN. He did skate today, though, according to Masters, and Berube said he’s “feeling better” after missing the last two games with an upper-body injury. The Leafs eagerly await getting their top-four fixture back in the lineup – Philippe Myers has played spot duty alongside Rielly the past couple of games while Oliver Ekman-Larsson shifted to McCabe’s usual spot alongside Chris Tanev.
  • Winger Bobby McMann is progressing in his recovery from his lower-body injury but won’t play in Toronto’s remaining two games this week. Berube told reporters that “he could hopefully be an option for next week” if he starts skating the next couple of days (via Masters). The 28-year-old has missed the last three contests after sustaining the injury on Nov. 27 against the Panthers. The late-blooming forward has been productive when in the lineup, scoring six goals in 21 games while averaging a career-high 14:01 per game.

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