The Maple Leafs were back at it on Friday, practicing at the MasterCard Center in Etobicoke following a well deserved day of rest after back-to-back wins over Calgary and Detroit. Toronto is one of the hottest clubs in the NHL(with a 7-1-1 record since November 18) and are close to getting two players back who have been unavailable because of injury and suspension.
Roman Polak working with S&E a coach Anthony Belza. #TMLtalk http://t.co/u62Zo0OQoo pic.twitter.com/7Kon7ubxpr
— David Alter (@dalter) December 12, 2014Defenseman Roman Polak took to the ice for the first time since suffering a knee ligament injury against Detroit on November 22, working before practice with Leafs strength and conditioning coach Anthony Belza.
The expected recovery time for Polak’s injury(3-4 weeks) would have the blueliner returning to the lineup next weekend for the final home game in 2014 against Philadelphia on December 20 or the start of Leafs seven-game road trip in Chicago on December 21.
Forward Carter Ashton also skated with his teammates for the first time in over a month and will be eligible to return to the lineup next Saturday when his 20-game suspension expires. The 23-year-old’s salary was taken off the Toronto’s cap figure until this week, 60% of his $850,500 salary counts against the cap until he is reinstated next weekend.
Ashton played in just three of the first 12 games before being suspended for violating the NHL’s Performance Enhancing Substances program and will have even more trouble cracking the Leafs lineup with Joffrey Lupul, Brandon Kozun and David Booth all returned from injury.
Leo Komarov was again absent from practice on Friday and will undoubtedly miss both weekend home games against Detroit and Los Angeles. The 27-year-old winger continues to be plagued by post-concussion symptoms after being hit from behind by Washington’s Alex Ovechkin nearly two weeks ago.
“Right now, we’re taking it day-by-day with Leo and seeing how he feels every day,… Leafs assistant general manager Kyle Dubas said Thursday. “Once his symptoms are gone, then we can start the return-to-play protocol and go from there.…
A Team Of Fashion Plates
All the Leafs ugly sweaters together pic.twitter.com/MRlLo6U4pS
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) December 12, 2014With the impending return of Polak and Ashton, the Leafs will have the maximum of 23 players on their active roster. Toronto has gone mostly with 21 or 22 on the roster for salary cap management reasons this season and according to Cap Geek, they are projected to end the season with less than $12,000 in available cap space if they stay with the current roster. That would leave no room for call ups unless a player is placed on LTIR(long-term injured reserve).
This situation would seem to put Leafs GM Dave Nonis in the position of having to clear cap space for maneuvering room throughout the season, which can be accomplished by sending Ashton or Trevor Smith to the Toronto Marlies, but both players will have to go through waivers to be returned to the AHL.
Going forward, Nonis has no wiggle room to take on any additional salary in a trade and appears to be limited to making money-in, money-out trades, moving out salaries of James Reimer, Joffrey Lupul, Jake Gardiner, Nazem Kadri or Cody Franson to add talent prior to the trade deadline.
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