Leafs GM Brad Treliving demotes a defenseman to the AHL

This just in, the Toronto Maple Leafs have demoted defenseman Simon Benoit to the AHL's Toronto Marlies.

The big blueliner had three minor penalties last night against the Montreal Canadiens in his Leafs debut. Not great... not great at all.

It's unclear how Benoit will remain with the Marlies and whether or not GM Brad Treliving is simply "papering" Benoit down to the minors to save some salary cap space.

In other Leafs news, the AHL Marlies have announced that assistant coach Eric Wellwood has left the team on a medical leave for an indefinite amount of time.

We won't speculate on Wellwood's health because it's simply not fair to him and his family. But, needless to say that thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family. We're all pulling for Wellwood to get back to full health.

The 33 year old brother of former Leafs forward Kyle Wellwood, spent the past two seasons as the Leafs' ECHL head coach with the Newfoundland Growlers. He retired from professional hockey at just 23 years old due to a brutal achilles injury where his tendons were completely severed. He jumped right into coaching with the OHL's Windsor Spitfires and has worked his way up the ranks from the OHL, to the ECHL and was set to coach his first AHL games this season. 

The future is bright for this talented young coach. Here's hoping he gets back to full health as soon as possible.