Maple Leafs’ Connor Dewar added to injured reserve; Nikita Grebenkin recalled
The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Saturday that center Connor Dewar has been added to the injured reserve due to an upper-body ailment, retroactive to January 20. In a corresponding roster move, left winger Nikita Grebenkin has been recalled from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
On the season, Dewar has made 29 appearances with the Maple Leafs, registering three assists with a minus-two rating and five penalty minutes. For Dewar, the upper-body ailment marks the second time this season in which the forward has been sidelined. In September, Dewar underwent shoulder surgery, delaying his season debut with the Maple Leafs until mid-November that followed a brief conditioning stint with the Marlies.
Acquired from the Minnesota Wild ahead of last season’s trade deadline, the 25-year-old Manitoban split the 2023-24 campaign between the Wild and Maple Leafs, totaling 74 contests in which he collected 11 goals and eight assists for 19 points.
Last July, the Maple Leafs re-signed Dewar to a one-year, $1.18-million contract, per PuckPedia.
Originally chosen by the Wild in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft, Dewar has made 219 NHL appearances in which he has recorded 46 points counting 19 goals and 27 assists.
For Grebenkin, the 21-year-old Russian-born forward returns to the Maple Leafs’ lineup following his NHL debut with the club earlier this season, a seven-game stretch in which he finished with two penalty minutes and a minus-three rating.
Skating in his first season in North America after helping the KHL’s Magnitogorsk Metallurg capture the Gagarin Cup last season, Grebenkin has spent the bulk of playing time with the Marlies, where through 29 outings he has registered eight goals and eight assists for 16 points with 16 penalty minutes. Grebenkin was originally chosen by the Maple Leafs in the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Draft.
Entering Saturday’s contest against the Atlantic Division rival Ottawa Senators, the Maple Leafs sit atop the Atlantic Division with a 30-17-2 record and 62 points.