When it was announced yesterday that Maple Leafs center John Tavares was out week-to-week, a recall from the minors was expected.  That recall is center Vinni Lettieri, who has been recalled from AHL Toronto, per the NHL’s Media Site. Leafs PR has confirmed the Lettieri transaction later.

The 31-year-old is in his second season with the Maple Leafs but has yet to make his first appearance with them.  Instead, he has played exclusively with the Marlies as one of their top offensive players while making a one-way salary.  He’s off to a strong start to his 2026-27 season, tallying three goals and six assists through his first five appearances to earn this promotion.

Lettieri has seen NHL action in parts of seven seasons with four different teams so far in his career.  His best season came in 2023-24 with Minnesota when he got into 46 games, collecting five goals and four assists.  Over those seven years, he has 15 goals and 17 helpers in 155 appearances.

Lettieri’s recall gives Toronto 13 healthy forwards on its active roster with still one roster spot available after Tavares was moved to injured reserve today.  That will likely change over the next couple of days with Dakota Joshua’s LTIR conditioning loan set to end early next week.  Adding him back to the active roster could be enough insurance for Lettieri’s recall to only be a short-term one although they have the cap and roster space to have both around.

Along with this transaction, goaltender Artur Akhtyamov has been recalled from the Marlies. Akhtyamov was given a $2.7MM ($900K AAV) contract that is a two-way deal for the 2026-27 season and could provide some help for a goaltending duo in need of it. Toronto sits bottom of the Atlantic currently, and neither Sergei Bobrovsky nor Anthony Stolarz has provided the netminding needed. For the NHL’s second-highest payroll among goalies, $15.18MM for 2026-27, it’s an underwhelming start for the Leafs as both are below a .900 save percentage and averaging above three goals against.

Elliotte Friedman reports that for the Leafs, back-to-back between the Sharks on Oct. 19 (Bobrovsky starting) and the Blue Jackets on (Stolarz starting), Akhtyamov will play backup in both games.

Earlier in the 2025-26 season, when the Maple Leafs were dealing with a few injury issues in the crease, Akhtyamov was allowed to debut in the NHL against the Edmonton Oilers on December 13th. He participated in 10:32 of the game, stopping all five shots faced. He ended his 2025-26 NHL time with three games, however, rather uninspiring, with a 5.24 goals against average in a year where Toronto was out of playoff contention.

The 24-year-old Russian, since moving to North America ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, has provided a 34-21-13 record in 66 games with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, with a .902 SV% and 2.86 GAA, including four shutouts. He also won the AHL playoff MVP award, leading the Marlies in the crease with a .923 save percentage, winning 15 of 22 games to win last year’s Calder Cup championship. So, given his numbers in the minors, the Leafs, in their goal to surge back to the postseason, could benefit from a youthful presence between the pipes.

PHR’s Marcus Antonelli contributed to this report.