As the Maple Leafs prepare for a home-and-home with the Detroit Red Wings this weekend, the status of veteran Joffrey Lupul may be in question, as the oft-injured winger left the ice before the club started practice on Thursday.
"He(Lupul) has a lower body injury that he tweaked in the game the other night. With the day off yesterday, he didn't have any issues." Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said following practice at MasterCard Center in Etobicoke, ON. "This morning he felt that he'd try it before practice, skated before practice and when they came out, he left."
The Leafs are awaiting an assessment on the nature of the injury to see if it will keep Lupul from playing in the pair of games against their Atlantic Division rival.
The 31-year-old forward has two goals and one assist in four games this season, including a third period tying goal against Colorado on Tuesday. Brandon Kozun, who started the season on the second line, took Lupul's place on the second line with Nazem Kadri and Daniel Winnik.
Lupul has long been plagued by injury, playing over 70 games just four times in his 11-year NHL career. Last season, the winger suffered three separate injuries(groin, foot and knee) and missed 13 games.
TSN's Jonas Siegel reports that winger David Booth is out of his walking boot and was doing off-ice work in the club's shooting practice machine, but he is not expected to return from a fractured foot until late October/early November.
There were no changes to the Leafs defense at practice on Thursday, as Dion Phaneuf-Cody Franson, Morgan Rielly-Stephane Robidas and Stuart Percy-Roman Polak were paired in drills. Jake Gardiner, who has been a healthy scratch the last two games, skated as the seventh defenseman and could miss Friday's game at Air Canada Center.
If Lupul is unable to go, Carlyle could opt to insert Gardiner and play seven defensemen as he did at times last season. Going with 11 forwards would mean giving top forwards James van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel extra shifts with fourth liners Richard Panik and Peter Holland(who saw less than six minutes TOI on Tuesday) instead of playing either Carter Ashton or Matt Frattin and would alleviate the burden on veterans like Phaneuf(who played over 25 minutes vs COL) or Stephane Robidas, who saw a significant decrease in his ice time on Tuesday after playing top pairing minutes the first three regular season games.
Gardiner's two game absence from the lineup has drawn criticism from hockey analysts who think the Leafs are mishandling the talented defenseman. The 24-year-old is the second highest paid blueliner on the Leafs after signing a five-year, $20.25 Million extension last July, but careless play in his own zone in the first two games, combined with the standout play of rookie Stuart Percy has left Gardiner on the outside looking in.
“Jake’s going to get his chance again. We all know that.… Leafs assistant coach Steve Spott indicated on Sportsnet Fan 590…²s Brady & Walker on Thursday. “It’s just a matter of when and when he does take advantage of it.…
Percy(the Leafs 2011 first rounder) played more than 23 minutes on Tuesday(including significant time on the power play), made a great breakout pass to Phil Kessel late in the game and continues to impress with his composure under pressure.
“This isn’t about just Jake, Stu has earned an opportunity to play.… Spott said. “The nice thing we got is we’ve got seven defensemen in this dressing room that we think can help us play. There’s gonna be guys come in and guys go out.…
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