Two former Leafs headed back to Toronto, set to face off against the Buds on Wednesday

Ahead of the Leafs' matchup tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche, two former Leafs are confirmed to be in the lineup for the Avs. This afternoon, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar announced that forward Denis Malgin will draw back into the top six after Artturi Lehkonen suffered an injury Monday against the Montreal Canadiens.



Malgin was dealt to the Avalanche after a short stint with the Leafs this season. In his 23 appearances in a Maple Leafs uniform this year, Malgin tallied just 4 points (2 goals and 2 assists). In mid-December, the Leafs opted to trade Malgin for left winger Dryden Hunt, who has since been flipped to Calgary.

Wednesday's game will be his first game back at Scotiabank arena where he looks to continue his campaign with the Avalanche in a revenge appearance. In 26 games with the Avalanche this season, Malgin has six goals, and two assists, tallying eight points.


On another note, another former Leaf who is a member of the Avalanche was called up in "replacement" of Lehkonen. Alex Galchenyuk is likely to join the team on their trip to Toronto to face off against the Leafs.



Galchenyuk joined the Leafs in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes back in the 2020-21 season where he appeared in just 26 games with the Leafs. In his tenure with the Buds, Galchenyuk scored four goals, and had eight assists, tallying twelve points. Due to injury, Galchenyuk started with the AHL Colorado Eagles where he played in 33 games and has only played in four games with the Avalanche this season.

If history has told Leafs fans anything, it's that former players tend to have their numbers. With these two former players returning, the Leafs could be in for quite the game on Wednesday.

Credit: hockeydb.com - Denis Malgin, hockeydb.com - Alex Galchenyuk