Toronto Maple Leafs place Mitch Marner on long-term injured reserve

According to CapFriendly, Marner’s placement on LTIR gives the team enough cap space to recall Rifai and his $775,000 cap hit.

The Leafs are now using $27,465,500 in LTIR relief.

Marner has been out of the lineup since earlier this month when he suffered a high-ankle sprain during a game against the Boston Bruins on March 7, and has been listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury since.

It is looking like Marner is nearing a return, as he participated in full practice with the team on Friday.

With the Toronto native having missed the last nine games, the Leafs have stayed afloat, going 5-3-1 after beating the Washington Capitals on Thursday.

In 62 games this season, the 26-year-old has scored 25 goals and 76 points, good for third on the team despite having missed 10 games this season. His 51 assists have him second on the Leafs behind William Nylander.

Rifai has played in two games this season with the Leafs, having made his NHL debut on Feb. 19 against the St. Louis Blues. He averaged a little over 11:30 in his two appearances, coming away with a plus-one rating.

The Maple Leafs (41-22-9) are set to face the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. They are third in the Atlantic Division, six points back of the Florida Panthers for third, and are four ahead of the fourth-place Tampa Bay Lightning.