Maple Leafs forward Leo Komarov has been selected as one of the first 16 players by Team Finland to their roster for the 2016 World Cup Of Hockey.
The 29-year-old winger won a bronze medal for Finland in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and has 18 goals and 17 assists for Toronto in 58 games this season.
Defenseman Morgan Rielly was one of the under-24 defensemen selected for Team North America,
while former Leaf defenseman Roman Polak was selected by the Czech Republic to play in the tournament that will open on September 17th at Air Canada Center in Toronto.
Injured winger James van Riemsdyk was not selected for Team USA, but could be one of the seven additional players chosen on June 1.
KHL All-Star defenseman Nikita Zaitsev was not on the initial roster for Team Russia, who chose only players currently active in the NHL.
The 24-year-old blueliner is currently playing for CSKA Moscow (who advanced to the second round of the Gargarin Cup Playoffs) but is expected to sign with Toronto after his KHL season is over.
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Toronto begins a busy stretch of five games in eight days, as they take on the Capitals at Verizon Center in Washington on Wednesday.
The Eastern Conference leaders will be playing their second of back-to-back home games after winning 3-2 over Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
Braden Holtby got the victory, so Caps head coach Barry Trotz will go with backup Philipp Grubauer against the Leafs. Grubauer has made just 10 starts this season but allowed only one goal in his last start, a 3-1 win over Los Angeles on February 16th.
The game marks the return of Brooks Laich to Washington, who was traded to Toronto on Sunday along with defenseman Connor Carrick and the Caps 2016 second round pick for forward Daniel Winnik.
The Leafs will go with Jonathan Bernier in the first of back-to-back games and will likely start Garret Sparks against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
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Toronto had mixed news in the race for best odds at winning the NHL Draft Lottery. The Edmonton Oilers notched a 2-1 OT victory in Buffalo on Tuesday, but the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames both had regulation losses to Florida and Boston.
The Sabres moved to 58 points with the loss, the Jets and Flames remain at 56 and the Oilers move up to 55, but every team has played more games than Toronto at this point.
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