The Maple Leafs confirmed on Monday that forward Brandon Kozun will be out a minimum of six weeks with a high ankle sprain.
The 24-year-old winger suffered the injury in the Leafs 4-1 loss to Detroit at Air Canada Center after being checked behind the net by Detroit defenseman Kyle Quincey.
Kozun had one assist in five games and was relegated to fourth line duty after starting the season on the second line with Nazem Kadri and Joffrey Lupul, but was useful as part of the Leafs improved penalty-killing unit.
Matt Frattin, who took Kozun’s place on Saturday in Toronto’s 1-0 overtime loss to the Wings at Joe Louis Arena, saw less than three minutes ice time.
There was no altering of line assignments at Monday’s practice at the Mastercard Center in Etobicoke, ON, which likely means no changes in the lineup for Tuesday night’s contest in Uniondale, NY against the red-hot NY Islanders, who have started the season 4-1-0.
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David Booth is making progress in his recovery from a broken foot, as the forward is off crutches but still in a walking boot. According to Leafs TV’s Paul Hendrick, the former 30 goal scorer is on pace to return by the second week of November.
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In the first few weeks of the season, it is impossible not to notice how the career tracks of Toronto’s pair of first round picks from the 2011 NHL Entry Draft going in opposite directions.
Other than the now-injured Brandon Kozun making the club, the biggest surprise coming out of Leafs training camp was Oakville, ON native Stuart Percy.
The 21-year-old was selected 25th overall in the ’11 NHL Draft with the draft pick acquired from Philadelphia in the Kris Versteeg deal and after a solid junior career with the OHL’s Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors/Steelheads and a year’s apprenticeship with the Toronto Marlies, Percy beat out veteran tryout invitee Henrik Tallinder, prospect Petter Granberg and the more experienced Korbinian Holzer for a spot on the Leafs blueline.
The youngster is does not have the size of Cody Franson, the speed of Jake Gardiner or the booming shot of Dion Phaneuf, but has an innate sense of what to do and when to do it. Percy was a healthy scratch for Saturday’s loss in Detroit, but the Leafs are far from being displeased with how he is handling the challenge of playing in the NHL.
“He blocked a couple shots and thought it would be a night for him to take off.” Carlyle said. “By no means are we disappointed in what he’s brought to the table so far.”
The same positive outlook cannot be shared for Percy’s draft mate Tyler Biggs, who last week was sent to the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL along with goalie Garret Sparks, defenseman Eric Knodel and Blake Kessel and forwards Brad Ross and Ryan Rupert.
Toronto traded Boston’s first round pick from the Tomas Kaberle deal(30th overall) and their second round pick(39th overall) to Anaheim to move up to draft the big American winger, picks which turned into forward Rickard Rakell and highly touted goaltending prospect John Gibson.
Biggs scored 26 goals with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals before joining the Toronto Marlies last season, but his offensive success in Junior did not translate in his first professional season(7 G, 2 A in 57 games with the Marlies).
Marlies head coach (now Leafs assistant) Steve Spott used the rugged forward as a checker and penalty killer last season as a way of acclimating to a role he could eventually fill in the NHL, but his lack of success to go along with being passed on the depth chart by contemporaries Josh Leivo and Connor Brown has put more pressure on the first rounder.
“He’s got to go and maybe play out of the spotlight that we have here in Toronto, he just has to go find his game,” Marlies coach Gord Dineen said recently to
Kyle Cicerella of Canadian Press . “Sometimes he really felt the onus of being a top pick, the recognition of him. He’s got to go down there and just get back to his attributes that got him here in the first place.”
The Leafs expect that Biggs will take advantage of the opportunity to play heavy minutes with the Solar Bears and earn his way back to Toronto.
“Lots of ice time, he’ll play in every situation, probably wasn’t going to do that (here) and that’s the biggest thing,” Dineen said. “By no means is it something where he’s gone to Orlando and he’s banished. We told him to go be the best player there and knock the door down to make us bring you back.”
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