As is often the case, teams don’t announce their deadline day moves to the AHL and back. It has taken until this morning to know exactly what the Leafs did, and where this puts them in terms of salary cap issues and playoff eligibility.
One poorly understood rule about the deadline is this one:
This isn’t just about playoff eligibility, although that’s included in this rule. This means exactly what it says: No NHL team can remove a player from their roster post-deadline unless they are “on recall” from the AHL.
Before deadline day, the only player on the Maple Leafs roster who could be sent down was Erik Källgren, since he was an emergency recall for an injured goalie.