University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey goalie Alex Bishop has signed a one-day amateur tryout contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of tonight's game against the Ottawa Senators.
The third-year commerce major from Richmond Hill, Ont., earned OUA West second team all-star honours in 2019-20 after amassing a .922 save percentage and 2.41 goals against average in 24 regular season games. He led the OUA with 19 wins, while logging the third-most minutes of any goaltender that season.
Bishop will back up the Toronto Maple Leafs' Jack Campbell tonight. Petr Mrazek suffered a groin injury midway through Thursday's loss in Ottawa and will miss an undetermined amount of time. Because the Leafs are so tight to the cap ceiling, they do not have the space to recall an AHL goaltender.
Cap rules state that a team must play short at a position — in this case, goaltender, an important one — for one game before getting the necessary relief to make a recall. The Maple Leafs are electing to dress an amateur backup instead of sending down a skater and playing with a short bench up front.
