Maple Leafs Coach Craig Berube Makes Light of Blueline Injuries Amid Sudden D Shortage

Already without David Kampf and Jake McCabe, who both left the Leafs' April 2nd win over the Florida Panthers with unspecified injuries, the Leafs received some more unfortunate news at practice on Friday.

As the club took to the ice for practice, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson was nowhere to be seen. It was unclear as to whether his absence was for maintenance or injury-related reasons, as the 33-year-old played a team-high 25:14 in Wednesday's victory over the Lightning.

Following practice, unfortunately, Berube confirmed the worst, revealing that the Swede would miss at least Saturday's game with an injury. Given roster limitations and cap constraints, the Leafs will be forced to play with just five defensemen against the Montreal Canadiens.

Despite the news on Ekman-Larsson, Berube was in good spirits when asked about another injury on the blueline, making a joke about coming out of retirement for a game.

A winger during his NHL career, seeing Berube on the back end would certainly be a sight to see, but if the Leafs are comfortable enough, it wouldn't be surprising to see a forward like Mitch Marner thrown on the blueline at times to give the rest of the defense corps a bit of a breather throughout the game Saturday.