Rasmus Sandin continued his rehab this morning as he took part in some drills prior to the Leafs morning skate. He went down in mid March with a knee injury against Nashville and has been out since. Last week, we were given the update that he was still week to week but with no given timeline as to how many weeks that would be.
This morning it was reported that the Leafs are looking to have Sandin back in the lineup at some point during the last week of the season. As long as he keeps progressing positively, this makes the most sense after being out for so long. It would not be a good idea to throw him into playoff action before allowing him to get his legs back with a couple of regular season games.
When Sandin is back and healthy, the Leafs will have 8 NHL caliber defenseman, so it will be interesting to see how Keefe chooses to deploy them all and who will draw out of the lineup to make room for him. There is a good chance that the Leafs will give their vets like Muzzin a break down the stretch given his injury struggles so there is the possibility of Sandin being reunited with Brodie or Liljegren.
Sandin is a pending RFA and will be in need of a new contract this summer. The big question is, will the Leafs lock him up long-term straight out of his ELC, or will he be bridged at a much lower cap hit to buy the Leafs some time to free up the necessary space to give him a larger deal?
