Absence of a top-4 defenseman forces Sheldon Keefe to get creative at practice
Photo credit: NHL
Following a day off yesterday, the Toronto Maple Leafs returned to practice on Monday. In an unusual change, the Leafs practiced at Scotiabank Arena instead of Ford Performance Center. The Leafs don't play until Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers, so we could see a handful of roster changes between now and then. However, head coach Sheldon Keefe was forced to get creative with his defensive pairs as one of his top-four defensemen was absent today.
Morgan Rielly and Ilya Lyubushkin remained together on Monday, as did the team's newest pair, Joel Edmundson and Timothy Liljegren. However, with Jake McCabe absent from practice, Simon Benoit, who appears to be the team's 7th defenseman after the additions of Edmundson and Lyubushkin in recent weeks, was slotted in next to T.J. Brodie.
According to Keefe, it was just a maintenance day for McCabe, but it may cause some concern given that after a day off, we don't often see many maintenance days, likely indicating that McCabe is dealing with a lingering injury.
McCabe had an eventful week once again as he was in the middle of pretty much everything in both games against the Boston Bruins last week and continued to engage in scrums Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens. McCabe had 8 hits and 3 blocks in 3 games last week while also missing Wednesday's game against the Buffalo Sabres.
Given that the Leafs are off until Thursday, if McCabe continues to be held out of practice for maintenance days, the concern around his health and lingering injuries will continue to rise. In 57 games for the Leafs this season, McCabe has 6 goals and 23 points to go along with 102 blocks and 164 hits. He plays big minutes for the team, so if he does miss time, the Leafs may have some adversity to overcome if he's forced out of the lineup.
| POLL | ||
MARS 11 | 378 ANSWERS Absence of a top-4 defenseman forces Sheldon Keefe to get creative at practice Are you concerned about an injury to McCabe this close to the playoffs? | ||
| Yes | 221 | 58.5 % |
| No | 157 | 41.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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