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The Toronto Maple Leafs return home after a five-game road trip to take on the Los Angeles Kings at Scotiabank Arena on Halloween night, but the contest could have been much scarier had the club lost another defenseman on Saturday.
Timothy Liljegren practiced on Monday after missing the second half of the 3-2 loss to Nashville on Saturday with an upper-body injury after being hit by Predators forward Yakov Trenin, and is expected to play against the Kings.
Happy Hallo-Reaves 🎃
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 31, 2023
Love, The Grim Reaver 😠pic.twitter.com/tZdXBURzeN
Defenseman Jake McCabe’s groin injury is not thought to be severe and keep him out of the lineup for an extended period of time, and there have been no Conor Timmins sightings since his injury in the preseason. The issues with the Leafs blueline continue to be an area of concern, especially with the age of both TJ Brodie and Mark Giordano, and loading major minutes on Morgan Rielly.
GM Brad Treliving has to be on the outlook for possible avenues of improvement between now and the trade deadline and one possible option has always been his former club, the Calgary Flames.
The Leafs cap situation limits their flexibility to make moves, but the Flames have a number of expiring contracts, including blueliners Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov, and Noah Hanifin. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported as recently as last week that the Flames and Hanifin were closing in on a contract extension, but Eric Francis reported on Tuesday that Calgary has paused all contract talks after getting off to a 2-6-1.
The talk of Hanifin re-signing in Calgary brushes aside the chatter that he would not consider extending with a Canadian team, while Zadorov represents the big, tough defenseman that Treliving prefers. Whether either would be targets of the Leafs before the deadline or next summer is unknown, but the recent injuries have to send a signal to Treliving that they are one turned ankle away from playing William Lagesson or Simon Benoit in a playoff game.
The Leafs kept the same lines and defensive pairings at practice on Monday and held an optional skate on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena. Joseph Woll will get the start against the Kings, who are 4-2-2 this season, while Los Angeles is expected to go with Cam Talbot (3-2-1, 2.72 GAA, .905 sv %).
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