Maple Leafs send Fraser Minten back to junior

Fraser Minten’s first NHL taste as come to an end.

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Friday the 19-year-old centre has been reassigned to the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers.

The move back to junior comes after Minten was a surprise inclusion on the team’s opening-right roster following an impressive training camp.

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In a corresponding move Friday, the Leafs recalled defenceman William Lagesson from the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies.

Selected in the second round of the 2022 NHL draft, Minten was held without a point in four games as the Leafs’ third-line centre before being made a healthy scratch the last three contests.

The Vancouver native, who’s a good bet to be part of Canada’s entry at the 2024 world junior hockey championship in Sweden, will join a Kamloops club that sat last in the Canadian Hockey League with 1-9-2 record heading into Friday’s action.

The Leafs (5-2-0) wrap up a season-long five-game road trip Saturday in Nashville against the Predators.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2023.