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The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to finish off their longest road trip of the season against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday on a winning note. After losing to Florida and struggling for most of the game in a comeback win over Tampa Bay one week ago, the Leafs relied on the goaltending of Joseph Woll and the consistent production of their core group in wins over Washington and Dallas.
Flipping things around in Nashville 🔵⚫ï¸@Scotiabank // #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/EWP1uhWitW
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) October 28, 2023
The Leafs played most of Thursday’s game with five defensemen, as Jake McCabe left the game on his first shift after suffering a lower-body injury. Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that the blueliner was having an MRI on Friday and that he expects him to miss some time, but the extent and severity of the injury are still unknown.
The injury necessitated some roster moves on Friday, as the club recalled defenseman William Lagesson from the AHL Toronto Marlies and sent center Fraser Minten back to the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League.
Lagesson, 27, has NHL experience with Edmonton and Montreal over four seasons but is generally considered a depth defenseman. The injury to McCabe has forced Keefe to shift veteran Mark Giordano to the second pairing with Timothy Liljegren, while Lagesson will partner with fellow Swede John Klingberg.
The concern going into the season of a lack of depth on defense has become apparent less than a month into the regular season. Depending on how long McCabe is out, it will put more of a burden on Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie to play heavy minutes, and a bigger role for Liljegren and Klingberg. Simon Benoit may eventually get an opportunity to play with the club, but the big defenseman showed some lack of discipline and footspeed during the preseason.
It was only a matter of time before Minten was sent back to junior after being healthy scratched the last three games. The 19-year-old showed tremendous growth and composure during training camp and in the first few games, something that he can build on during the rest of the WHL season and for Team Canada at the World Juniors in Sweden this December.
Ilya Samsonov is expected to get the start for Toronto, hoping to bounce back from allowing three Tampa goals on four shots last Saturday. Juuse Saros will get the start for Nashville.
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