The important thing for the Toronto Maple Leafs over the next week, while on home ice, is to continue to pile up points, because the club will need to maintain pace or gain ground on their Eastern Conference competition. The results on Tuesday saw Tampa Bay and Boston win and Montreal and Ottawa lose in regulation, which has the Leafs three points out of the wildcard spots and third place in the Atlantic.
Toronto received what had to be some expected news on Tuesday, as winger Bobby McMann was suspended for one game for the high-sticking incident on Tampa’s Oliver Bjorkstrand in Monday’s 2-0 win. The league’s Department of Player Safety ruled that McMann carelessly raised his stick, which made contact with Bjorkstrand’s helmet and visor, but his lack of a history of fines or suspension factored into a light penalty. The Leafs winger will miss the club’s next game against San Jose on Thursday.
In injury news, the Leafs placed defenseman Dakota Mermis on injured reserve on Wednesday. The blueliner went knee-on-knee with Lightning forward Gage Goncalves and did not return. Toronto recalled defenseman Henry Thrun from the Toronto Marlies. The 24-year-old was acquired from San Jose for Ryan Reaves in July and has nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 19 AHL games. It is possible that he makes his Leafs debut against his former club on Thursday.
Tanev Closing In On Return Or Surgery?
In other news, there seems to be some conflicting signals regarding the health status of injured defenseman Chris Tanev. Head coach Craig Berube sounded optimistic regarding the veteran’s status, and the 35-year-old has been ramping up his work on ice the last week or so, to the point that on Monday, he was not wearing the red non-contact jersey during the morning skate. Berube indicated that Tanev would be re-evaluated this week, and pending that, he could be getting closer to a return to action after a five-week layoff.
That news was tempered by a report from Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos, who said the veteran blueliner and the club could be approaching a decision on whether he will undergo surgery to address the injury issues he has encountered. The Leafs have not specified the injury that Tanev had following the collision with Philadelphia’s Matvei Michkov on November 1, but Kypreos mentioned a possible neck/spine injury that could be alleviated by surgery, and that it potentially would not end his season.
This, coming on the setback to Brandon Carlo, is a double-barreled dose of bad news for the Leafs, who have successfully tread water with Troy Stecher admirably filling in the top-four, but whether they can maintain their recent level of defensive play with both righties out, conceivably long-term, is questionable.
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