Leafs recall Jacob Quillan, Canucks call up Cole Clayton ahead of deadline

The Toronto Maple Leafs recalled Jacob Quillan from the Marlies and the Vancouver Canucks called up Cole Clayton from Abbotsford, moves flagged in a short roster summary as NHL clubs tighten depth ahead of the March 6 trade deadline at 3 p.m. The same original report also noted the Philadelphia Flyers signed Garrett Wilson to an NHL deal and assigned him to the Phantoms, the Detroit Red Wings reassigned goaltender Sebastian Cossa to the Griffins, and Utah recalled Dmitri Simashev from the Roadrunners.

Teams are maneuvering under explicit deadline constraints. Dejan Kovacevic of DKPittsburghSports warned, “A player who was on the NHL roster has to be on an AHL roster at the time of the trade deadline in order to be eligible to play in the AHL for the rest of the year.” Kovacevic clarified that “That rule is commonly misreported as one to keep playoff eligibility, but it's eligibility to play in the AHL for the full remainder of the season, playoffs included.” His piece also reminded clubs that “Trades are allowed after Friday, but those players can't play in the NHL for their new teams for the rest of the year,” a constraint that shapes how front offices send players between NHL and AHL lists in the days around the cutoff.

ProHockeyRumors’ Josh Erickson framed why clubs are adding or promoting AHL talent now: “The list of players in an NHL organization doesn’t end with those actively signed. AHL and ECHL affiliates can have players under contract, too, so while they’re playing with an affiliated farm team, their signing rights aren’t directly tied to their NHL parent.” Erickson added that “That doesn’t stop NHL clubs from snapping up talent that was initially brought in on minor-league deals, though. It’s common for teams to do at the trade deadline, making them eligible for a recall down the stretch or participate in playoff action if needed.” Erickson named specific candidates worth watching, including Ben Berard, who is tied for Abbotsford’s team lead with 23 points in 46 games on a club scoring 2.18 goals per game, and Atley Calvert, whose 2025-26 line sits at 9-17-26 in 48 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after recording 14 points in 26 AHL call-up games in 2024-25.

AHL performance and midseason trades have been fertile ground for NHL upgrades. Patrick Williams at TheAHL recapped the Dec. 12 Sam Poulin trade to the Edmonton Oilers organization, noting Poulin, 24, paced Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 22 games before the deal and then picked up two assists in his Bakersfield Condors debut at Tucson on Dec. 13. Williams’ piece also recorded Bakersfield’s team output — averaging 3.56 goals per game and a 26.5 percent power play (26-for-98) — as context for why organizations target AHL contributors.

Concrete roster mechanics are already affecting clubs’ short-term moves. Kovacevic outlined a Penguins example that could be instructive for other front offices: “If the moves are made in a single day like that, he wouldn't be required to report to the AHL and play a game. But he would cost the Penguins one of their four standard recalls that they have for the remainder of the regular season.” That operational detail helps explain why recalls such as Jacob Quillan’s and Clayton’s arrive now rather than after March 6.

Predictions and deadline chatter continue to swirl — The Athletic framed March 6 as the trade-deadline focal point and the New York Times’ Fluto Shinzawa asserted about Matt Poitras, “Poitras was once a rising star... But as a third-year pro, the right-shot center was assigned to the AHL at the start of the season. He’s made only three NHL appearances this year,” a line the NYT used in a forecast that “They will trade Matt Poitras.” With the 3 p.m. cutoff looming, these recalls and AHL assignments are the chess moves that will determine which players remain eligible for AHL playoff runs and which remain tradeable but NHL-ineligible after the deadline.