Leafs D Jake McCabe Has Confirmed His Status for the Start of the Playoffs

Heading into the final games of the regular season, the Toronto Maple Leafs had a few players sidelined including defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Jake McCabe.

With the post-season berth and division crown locked up, the Maple Leafs erred on the side of caution, especially in the final game of the season.

With the first game of the opening round of the playoffs scheduled for tonight, Craig Berube unveiled his projected lines at Saturday morning's practice, which fortunately includes the veteran shot blocking defenseman in McCabe.

McCabe was back in his usual spot on the top pair alongside Chris Tanev, which is fantastic news for the Maple Leafs as they are also expecting Ekman-Larsson to take a spot next to Simon Benoit on the third pairing.

McCabe suited up in 66 games this year, where he posted 2 goals and 23 points, a plus-23 rating, 40 PIMs, 135 blocked shots, and 118 hits in a career-high 21:31 ATOI. This coming off the heels of his best offensive season last year with 8 goals and 28 points.

Expect more of the same during the post-season as McCabe has 28 blocked shots and 69 hits in 21:09 ATOI across 18 playoff games over the last 2 seasons.

The 31-year-old defenseman has been nothing short of consistent since his arrival from the Chicago Blackhawks ahead of the trade deadline in 2023 and his return to the lineup will boost the defensive play immensely.

A fully-loaded and completely healthy back-end will serve issues for any opposition including the Ottawa Senators but it's that much more important to have them all together for the first game of the series to set the tone.

Tonight will be an epic chapter in the Battle of Ontario and the Leafs will be fortunate enough to have McCabe back in the fold as the team looks to be completely healthy ahead of what could be a deep post-season run.