The Toronto Maple Leafs are headed into another weekend without the likes of Mitch Marner following an update from head coach Sheldon Keefe on Friday, with the bench boss stating that Marner will require more work in practice before the team plans to re-integrate him into the lineup.
Marner was originally injured back on March 7th against the Boston Bruins after an off-balance shot led to the 26-year-old taking an awkward tumble, with his foot getting caught underneath him, leading to a high-ankle sprain. He has been skating with the team this week and even joined the main group for a full practice on Thursday morning prior to their game against Washington.
With Keefe confirming that Marner will not play without first putting in some more work at practice, that will effectively take him out of the running for Monday's game against the Florida Panthers, as the team's next full practice is not set to occur until Tuesday, per TSN's Mark Masters.
Marner's absence from the lineup essentially means that he can kiss the 100-point mark goodbye this season. The Markham, Ontario native would need to rack up 24 points in the 8 or 9 games he'll play between now and season's end to hit that mark, which does seem like a tall order.
The Leafs are really up against it right now when it comes to injuries. Already without Marner, the Leafs are also missing a number of other key players in Morgan Rielly, Joel Edmundson, Calle Jarnkrok, and Timothy Liljegren. Hopefully Marner and Rielly can return sooner than later and that the others aren't too far behind.
