The Toronto Maple Leafs may have reason for concern regarding goaltender Frederik Andersen.
The 26-year-old native of Denmark was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks for a 2016 first round and 2017 second round pick in late June and signed a five-year, $25 Million contract extension with Toronto immediately after the trade.
Andersen is taking part in a qualifying tournament for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea for his home country and according to writer Aivis Kalinins, the presumptive Leafs starter collided with a teammate late in a game against Slovenia on Friday and stayed down on the ice after the collision before being pulled.
Here is the collision that forced #Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen to leave Denmark's game against Slovenia earlier. pic.twitter.com/YBimNJ1cme
— Alex Nunn (@aj_ranger) September 2, 2016
The severity of the injury is not known at this time, but it appears from the video above that the Danish defender undercut Andersen, who landed all of his weight on his left glove hand. An injury that would keep Andersen out long term would be a significant blow to the Maple Leafs.
Toronto recently signed veteran Jhonas Enroth to be their backup and Enroth has been a stop gap starter in the past with the Buffalo Sabres, but the concern is not for the short term, but for Andersen become acclimated to playing in the Eastern Conference and in the league's biggest hockey media market.
Sportsnet's Eliotte Friedman indicated late Friday afternoon that the Leafs will fly Andersen back to Toronto to be examined by doctors for the suspected upper body injury.
The club is not sure how serious the injury is or if it will effect Andersen's availability for Team Europe in the upcoming World Cup of Hockey later this month or for training camp.
😠#TMLtalk pic.twitter.com/9x1rJJwvKx
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) September 2, 2016
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