Breaking: Official update on Frederik Andersen from Mike Babcock.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have just received a big and very important update.

According to a breaking news report from TSN National Hockey League insider Pierre LeBrun, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock has confirmed that the Leafs will get number 1 goaltender Frederik Andersen back in the line up this evening and the timing could not be better for the Leafs on a number of different levels.

For starters the Maple Leafs are set to square off against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night and when you consider that the team's entire top line has been voted into the All Star game having your top goaltender between the pipes is going to be extremely important. Additionally though the Leafs now avoid a potentially massive headache when it comes recently acquired backup goaltender Michael Hutchinson. The Leafs played Hutchinson in his 9th game of the 2018 - 2019 regular season on Saturday when it was revealed that Andersen had been sidelined with the flu, had Andersen been unable to go today it could have potentially resulted in a 10th game this season for Hutchinson. That would have made him waiver eligible which would have meant that the Maple Leafs would have had to submit him to waivers before sending him down to the minors, something that likely would have result in him being claimed. 

When you consider that the Maple Leafs have already lost goaltenders Calvin Pickard and Curtis McElhinney to waivers this season, I have little doubt that the thought of losing a 3rd goalie in such a manner was a nightmare scenario for Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas. Additionally it sounds like Garret Sparks will be the backup this evening for Andersen which would appear to indicate that Hutchinson will soon be sent down to the American Hockey League and the Toronto Marlies. To be clear the moves has not yet been officially announced and that is still only speculation at this time.

In spite of some injuries and the aforementioned illness that sidelined him over the wee kend Andersen has been a work horse for the Leafs this season. Andersen has appeared in 30 games already and has recorded a 2.50 goals against average and a .923 save percentage on the season thus far.

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