Breaking: Leafs assign Pickard to Marlies, call up a forward

The Toronto Maple Leafs have assigned goaltender Calvin Pickard to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies this morning. In a separate move, the team also called up forward Frederik Gauthier.

Pickard made his debut for the Leafs this past weekend when he was thrust into action against his former team the Colorado Avalanche. The 25-year-old netminder dropped a 4-3 decision in his first Leafs game but looked solid for most of the evening. Pickard was acquired by the Leafs in a October trade with the Vegas Golden Knights. Since then he’s been on an absolute TEAR with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies posting a 10-5-0 record, a 2.20 GAA and .919 save percentage.

As for Gauthier, the hulking 6’5”, 230 pound center has played 25 games with the Marlies this season, scoring five goals and eight points. He managed 21 games for the Leafs last season, but this call up will be his first opportunity to play an NHL game this season. Whose spot in the lineup he takes though, remains to be seen. Stay tuned, Leafs fans. We expect more word on Gauthier’s spot in the lineup following this morning’s gameday skate.