Leafs recall Woll, Cowan from AHL; Matthews placed on IR

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced multiple roster moves of significance Friday. Firstly, Auston Matthews has been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, retroactive to November 11th. The Leafs have also recalled goaltender Joseph Woll and forward Easton Cowan from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, while at the same sending goaltender Artur Akhtyamov down to the Marlies.

Matthews already missed Toronto’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, and won’t be eligible to play in Saturday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks or Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Blues now that he’s been placed on IR. The Leafs’ captain has scored nine goals and added five assists for 14 points in 17 games so far this season.

Cowan, who has been recalled to fill Matthews’ roster spot, has already played 10 games in the NHL this season. Considered the top prospect in Toronto’s organization coming into the year, the 2023 first-round pick put up a goal and three assists with the Leafs before being assigned to the AHL on November 5th. He notched just an assist in two games with the Marlies. There’s a chance Cowan will get immediately inserted into Toronto’s top-six forward group, as they’ll be looking for added offense in Matthews’ absence.

Woll’s recall couldn’t have come at a better time for Toronto, as fellow goaltender Anthony Stolarz is currently day-to-day with an upper-body injury. The 27-year-old started two games for the Marlies on a conditioning stint after returning from a personal leave of absence. Last year for the Leafs, he appeared in 42 games and earned a 27-14-1 record with a .909 save percentage and a 2.73 goals-against average.

Akhtyamov was brought up to the Leafs on Thursday to serve as Dennis Hildeby’s backup against the Kings, but will now return to the Marlies with Woll coming back to the NHL.