Maple Leafs Recall Lettieri, Akhtyamov Ahead Of Back-To-Back
The Toronto Maple Leafs have made two roster moves on Monday morning, recalling forward Vinni Letteri and goaltender Arur Akhtyamov from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
Those who followed the Marlies’ 2026 Calder Cup Championship run will be very familiar with both players. Akthyamov was the AHL Playoff MVP following an incredible 15-7 playoff run, where his save percentage jumped from 0.904 in the regular season to 0.923 in the postseason, including two shutouts. Letteri, on the other hand, was the team’s top offensive player, scoring 11 goals and 15 assists in 23 games.
Akhtyamov, 24, fits closer to the “prospect” bucket, potentially getting his second look at NHL exerience in his young career. Lettieri, 31, is closer to a veteran looking for an opportunity to get back in the league, last playing a 26-game stint with the Boston Bruins in 2024/25. To date he’s produced 32 points in 155 games at the NHL level.
Given his offensive prowess in the playoffs and at the start of this season (3 goals, 6 assists in 5 games), though, you have to assume the Leafs are both rewarding him for his efforts with a brief pay bump, and wondering if he can produce a little more offensively than currently edge-of-lineup forwards Zack MacEwen and Bo Groulx. Beneath Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, Kirill Marchenko, Easton Cowan, Jack Roslovic, and Gavin McKenna, the Leafs have just four goals (two from Colton Sissons, one from Nick Paul, one from Nick Blankenburg). The team would presumably like to have a chance at scoring if their top two lines aren’t producing, especially with Tavares on the IR for the next few weeks.
Lettieri was speculated to be getting the call up for most of yesterday, following his apperance on the Maple Leafs’ online roster and his exclusion from the Marlies lineup in a loss to Belleville.
Akhtyamov’s call-up is a little more curious. The easiest answer would be that Toronto is looking for a little bit of insurance with three games in the next four days, though two of the three are at home and don’t require short notice. Another thought is that one of Sergei Bobrovsky or Anthony Stolarz could be nursing a yet-to-be-reported injury. The third thought is that Toronto could potentially be moving towards a roster move.
TSN insider Darren Dreger mentioned on his Ray and Dregs podcast last Wednesday that the New York Rangers had inquired about Stolarz following Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending injury. Stolarz, 32, is signed through to the end of 2029/30 at a $3.75 million cap hit. While Toronto likely would prefer to not lose the upside of a healthy Stolarz’s game, staying available has been a struggle for him throughout his tenure and his success in the 2024/25 season is starting to feel like an achievement too difficult to reach back towards. The Maple Leafs likely wouldn’t get much back for him in in a trade, but freeing up cap space both immediate and for the books in 2027/28 and beyond would be of its own value, especially if they believe Akhtyamov is NHL ready and can benefit from Bobrovsky’s mentorship more than than he can from an AHL starter’s workload.
In other words, Akhtyamov’s all up could mean very little, or it it could mean a lot. Very clarifying, I know. We’ll likely have a better idea in the coming hours.
