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The Toronto Maple Leafs have unfortunately been plagued with injuries a week into the regular season, as defenseman Jake Muzzin suffered a neck injury in the club’s 4-2 loss to Arizona on Monday. The veteran blueliner was placed on injured reserve on Monday, which means that he will be unavailable for a minimum of 7 days, but there is no timeline for his return.
"Jake's had a number of injuries that have been cause for concern for us. Anytime a player gets injured and has as many injuries as Jake has had to deal with, there is concern, of course," Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said at the Ford Performance Centre on Wednesday. "I think it's probably too early to say that at this point. We had an event last night and he looked like himself in a lot of ways he's here in the facility again today. So we'll let the process take care of itself with the medical folks and take it from there."
Muzzin spent two stints in injured reserve last season with concussion issues, but Keefe indicated that he was tested and passed concussion protocols. The Leafs once again dipped into the minor leagues, recalling 22-year-old blueliner Filip Kral from the AHL Marlies.
Toronto made a number of tweaks to a lineup that underwhelmed against rebuilding Montreal and Arizona to start the season in advance of the final game of a four-game homestand against the Dallas Stars. Keefe kept three of four forward lines intact, but inserted winger Nick Robertson in place of Denis Malgin on the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander and he will likely make his first start of the season against older brother Jason on Thursday.
Defenseman Victor Mete, who was called up after goaltender Matt Murray was placed on long-term injured reserve on Sunday, skated with veteran Mark Giordano on the bottom pairing at practice, while Rasmus Sandin moved to the left side with Justin Holl and took Giordano’s spot on the second power play.
Timothy Liljegren looked to be making progress in his recovery from hernia surgery on Saturday and could return at some point during the club’s five-game road trip starting Saturday in Winnipeg.
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