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Kasperi Kapanen is expected to make his season debut tomorrow night against the Florida Panthers, while Curtis McElhinney will man the pipes with Frederik Andersen listed as day-to-day with a jaw injury.

After returning from an ankle ailment on March 2nd, Kapanen looked back to 100% in this past weekend’s three-in-three set of games for the Marlies, recording a goal and four assists. He now has 43 points in 43 games on the season as he’s resumed his point-a-game pace from before his early-January injury.

Prior to his injury, Kapanen was on pace for over 30 goals and he was an absolute menace in man-advantage situations – he posted nine goals and 22 points on the power play alone in his first 33 games. While he’s going to start on the fourth line at 5v5, he’ll be an option on both sides of special teams, as his elite wheels have made him an effective PK option as well at the AHL level.

There were a couple of other options here that might have made sense for a fourth-line role also – Kerby Rychel plays with more of an edge and he’s up to 47 points after a slow start, to go along with 117 penalty minutes – but Kapanen has certainly earned this opportunity. Unlike a Rychel or a Brendan Leipsic, he slides in naturally as a right winger while bringing elite speed to a fourth line that lacked some pace with Ben Smith in the injured Nikita Soshnikov’s place on Saturday in Buffalo. As mentioned, Kapanen can also provide an option on special teams, with a high-end shot on the power play and an ability to cover ice really well in shorthanded situations.

Viewed as the Leafs “next best” prospect in the system, it’s sometimes easy to forget Kapanen is younger than William Nylander by a few months and three years Connor Brown’s junior. The 20-year-old was out of his depth a little bit in his nine-game callup last season, but it’s amazing what a difference a calendar year can make. He has become a dominant AHL player in that time.

Kapanen mentioned this morning that he feels he’s made some major strides defensively this season, and he should be well-insulated in that regard next to a veteran center like Brian Boyle.

What kind of strides do you think you’ve made this year? I know you’ve killed penalties this year, that kind of stuff.

Kapanen: I just think I’m a more complete player. I feel bigger and stronger and faster compared to last year. That’s just a big confidence booster.

You’ve talked about trying to improve your defensive game to try to complement your offensive game. Where do you feel like you’re at defensively?

Kapanen: Pretty good compared to last year. It’s just something you have to take care of first. Once you take care of defensive zone, you can go and try to score some goals and make plays. I think they’ve really made me bear down in the defensive zone. I feel like more of a complete player.

Kapanen will be the ninth rookie to suit up for the Leafs this season.

McElhinney to start vs. Florida, Andersen day to day

The Twitter reports on Frederik Andersen throughout practice today went from he’s perfectly fine and likely to start tomorrow, to Andersen leaving practice early and ruled out for Tuesday. For now, Andersen is day-to-day with a jaw injury and Curtis McElhinney will start tomorrow’s game against Florida.

McElhinney gave up four on 24 shots to the Panthers in relief during the 7-2 blowout game on March 24, but he has won four of nine starts to go along with a .919 save percentage since Toronto claimed him off of waivers. Fortunately, the Leafs don’t need perfection down the stretch to make the playoffs at this point – a .500 record over the final eight will likely do it – and they’ve also got a stretch of non-playoff opponents coming up starting tomorrow. The Panthers, Red Wings and Sabres are next on the docket, and the Leafs will need a competent start or two from McElhinney while Andersen rests. They can’t leave too many points on the table with the Lightning, Capitals, Penguins and Blue Jackets on the schedule to close out the season.