Maple Leafs Recall William Villeneuve On Emergency Basis

The Maple Leafs are expected to be without Oliver Ekman-Larsson tonight for his first injury-related absence of the year.  Additionally, David Alter of The Hockey News notes (Twitter link) that there are some other players banged up as well.  As a result, the team has decided to bring up an extra blueliner, announcing (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled William Villeneuve on an emergency basis from AHL Toronto.

It’s the second recall of the season (and of his career) for the 24-year-old although his first stint came during the Olympic break so he’s still waiting to make his NHL debut.  Villeneuve was a fourth-round pick by Toronto back in 2022, going 122nd overall.  He has been fairly productive in the minors over the years but that has yet to materialize into an opportunity at the top level yet.

Villeneuve had 40 points for the Marlies last season but that didn’t seem to help his cause much in contract negotiations as a restricted free agent for the first time.  In exchange for accepting the minimum salary at the NHL level, he received an additional $20K guarantee on his deal, bringing his total salary for this season to $100K overall.  Villeneuve hasn’t been quite as productive this season as he has three goals and 25 assists in 58 games but that’s enough to sit third on the team in assists and first in points among blueliners.