And while it's believed the group will be in the lineup, there's expected to be further maneuvering with the call-ups in order to ensure eligibility for the AHL playoffs, in which the Marlies will be heavily favored to win the Calder Cup.
The promotion to the big club does, of course, carry contract implications.
if Nylander & Kapanen end up playing in 10 NHL games with the Leafs this season, they'll burn 1 year of their EL contract.
Nylander, 19, has recorded 18 goals and 27 assists in 37 games for the Marlies in a season that was interrupted by a concussion suffered at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Kapanen, a key piece of the Phil Kessel trade last summer, has scored eight goals and added 14 assists in 32 games.
The rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs have recalled a number of their top prospects.
Nineteen-year-olds William Nylander and Kasperi Kapanen joined the Leafs from the AHL's Toronto Marlies on Monday morning and could play their first NHL games t...
The Maple Leafs made a smart move in accumulating another draft pick, giving them 12 in the coming draft. That's a lot. And after every trade, you're almost left shaking your head, because you're so used to Toronto getting it wrong - so very wrong - not right.
But Toronto's sticking to its word. Head coach Mike Babcock wasn't lying about pain, because it's possible the Maple Leafs lose 18 of their final 22 games. This teardown had to be done, though, and it's possible - although still too early to say - that the Maple Leafs have actually figured it out. The team is finally flexing its only muscle: money. Teams can't afford to make bad decisions in the salary-cap NHL. Except Toronto.
At some point, a smart move made by Toronto won't feel like an anomaly. That day may be coming, and many probably thought it would never arrive.
A cruel business
There has never been a wider gap between two teams than the one separating the Capitals and Maple Leafs. Washington is elite. Toronto is trotting out an AHL lineup. At this point, watching the Maple Leafs play the Toronto Marlies is something people would probably pay to watch.
Laich has played 742 of his 743 regular-season games in the NHL with the Capitals, and another 65 playoff games with Washington. He's been on fifth-place Capitals teams and first-place Capitals teams. And now, with his 33rd year on the horizon, he's a Maple Leaf. Not only for the rest of this season, but next, too.
Washington has 94 points, Toronto 52. The Capitals are a Stanley Cup contender - the favorite. You can't even say "Stanley Cup" within a few blocks of the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. This is awful for Laich. Unfair.
You play to win. And Laich gave his heart and soul, his best years, his prime, to the Capitals. He played a game that didn't make it so surprising when the injuries came, when the decline began. And the decline was ruthless.
It's a business. Toronto's proving that best. Laich's learning it firsthand. Laich can't possibly watch the Capitals in the playoffs on television. That'll be too difficult.
New reality
It's been 10 years since the NHL implemented a salary cap. Teams are finally figuring it out. And the new reality is that there are ramifications for signing players to bad contracts.
And the Maple Leafs, to their credit, are finding a role for themselves in this new league landscape. Because Toronto is the only team that can afford to make its own mistakes and take on other teams' mistakes - for a price.
Even in a hard-cap league, teams like the Maple Leafs can spend others into the ground, by pouring money into their front office, and an analytics team, by figuring out creative ways to absorb money, and bury money, and in the case of Stephane Robidas, make players disappear.
Toronto's money is endless. And even a team like Washington, a playoff team in seven of the past eight seasons, employing one of the best players in the world in Alex Ovechkin, has no chance of ever playing on the same monetary level.
The Capitals' window is open for only another two years. If Toronto keeps this up, it can prop open its window for a long time, maybe even a Detroit Red Wings-like long time. And for Brendan Shanahan and Babcock, that has to be the goal.
The 24-year-old has been solid on the team's back end with four goals and six assists, while leading Edmonton with a plus-6 rating in his first full season with the team.
Davidson has quickly climbed the ranks after finding himself with the Stockton Thunder of the ECHL just three seasons ago. He was slated to become a restricted free agent at season's end.
Check in frequently throughout today for the latest NHL 2016 Trade Deadline deals. Analysis of today’s trades will be posted on Monday evening in my Soapbox section. The PIttsburgh Penguins trade forward Sergei Plotnikov to the Arizona Coyotes for a seventh-round draft choice in 2017 and minor-leaguer Matthias Piachta.
Eriksson - a pending unrestricted free agent - is in the final season of a six-year, $25.5-million contract. He's looking for a long-term deal from Boston.
The 30-year-old forward has enjoyed a solid campaign for the Bruins, recording 23 goals and 25 assists in 63 games.
It's sounding more and more like Kris Russell's Calgary Flames career will be over by 3 p.m. ET on Monday.
A pending unrestricted free agent in a thin rental market for defensemen, Russell's likely to be traded, according to president Brian Burke, who was on TSN's TradeCentre on Monday morning.
"There's a lot of interest in (Russell)," Burke said. "I'd be surprised if something does not happen today."
Burke on @FAn960 on Kris Russell interest: "Offers are already better today than they were last night."
Burke said the club and Russell tried to work out a contract, but being unable to do so, the writing's essentially on the wall. The Flames sit second last in the Western Conference and it would be unwise to let him walk away for nothing.
Burke also added that the Flames will likely look for goaltending help in the summer, rather than on deadline day.
The Bruins are expected to be major players before Monday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline, and TSN's Darren's Dreger and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman have the latest on what's reportedly happening in Boston:
Bruins are a major player today. Working on Hamhuis/Russell...considering Eriksson trade options. Lots of discussions in Boston.
The Bruins sit in third place in the Atlantic Division, and have to decide whether to sell Loui Eriksson, and/or add defensive help in Dan Hamhuis - who has a no-trade clause - and Kris Russell.
Eriksson's the top offensive player available on the trade market, if the Bruins decide to deal him, and he's looking for a long-term deal, as he's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Hamhuis wants to leave Vancouver as a rental, try and win a Stanley Cup, and head back home to play for the Canucks. He's been open about his desire to not uproot his family.
"I honestly had no idea or expectations coming into this deadline," Winnik said on Sportsnet. "Obviously last year I knew I was going to get moved, and this year I thought it was maybe under 50 percent."
Winnik, who has now been traded by the Maple Leafs twice in a little over a year, shed light on the uneasiness in Toronto's dressing room amidst a plethora of trades in the past week.
Daniel Winnik tells @Sportsnet he didn't expect to be traded this year. Adds there's been an "underlying tension" in #leafs dressing room.
"You have to talk about (trades) a little more here considering the situation the organization is in and with the deadline looming," Winnik said. "We got the first trade of Shawn Matthias, and then shortly after it was Roman Polak and Nick Spaling, and then it's kind of the waiting game until today."
Despite leaving his hometown team once again, Winnik is certainly thrilled about going to a Stanley Cup contender.
(2/2) Very excited to be joining @washcaps and love the possibilities we can achieve as a team. See you guys soon
The 30-year-old forward is in the first season of a two-year, $4.5-million deal, and has now netted the Maple Leafs a pair of second-round picks in 2016 through two separate trades.
