Toronto Maple Leafs: Frederik Andersen Out Day-To-Day

The Toronto Maple Leafs goalie depth took yet another hit on Monday.

Heading into Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, the Toronto Maple Leafs gave Garret Sparks the nod for the contest. It was a move that initially seemed reasonable enough, but hours later, the reasoning behind it was revealed.

The Leafs have listed Frederik Andersen as day-to-day with a knee injury. As a result, they have recalled goalie Eamon McAdam on an emergency basis.

Here are the full details as per Leafs PR:

The announcement is an unfortunate one considering the Leafs have already lost both Calvin Pickard and Curtis McElhinney to waivers earlier this month. With two quality goalies lost for free, it really hurt the goalie depth and it is now rearing its ugly head.

It’s a huge loss considering Andersen is once again playing a vital role in the team’s success so far this season. In 5 starts, he has registered 4 wins but also sports a .899 SV% and a 3.02 GAA.

Andersen may be suffering from his typical bad October numbers, but make no mistake – his injury is a huge blow to the team.

He is coming off one of his best games of the year so far, stopping 25 of 27 shots against in a 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday. It is unclear when Andersen sustained this injury, but Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported that the Leafs think Andersen will be back for Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In the meantime, Garret Sparks becomes the temporary backup goalie and he hopes to have a better start than his previous one. He allowed 6 goals in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks in a 7-6 win for Toronto.

As for McAdam, he was called up due to Kasmir Kaskisuo being injured this weekend and Jeff Glass being only on an AHL deal as per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Playing with the Newfoundland Growlers of the ECHL, he has 1 win, 2.00 GAA, and a .913 SV% as per HockeyDB.

While today’s news is disappointing considering the role Andersen has to the team, it will now be up to the Toronto Maple Leafs to ensure this absence doesn’t sting as much. Let’s hope the injury is a minor blip in the radar and Andersen returns to the lineup in no time.

If not, the Leafs could be in trouble because their back-up lacks NHL experience and Andersen is a vital component of their core.

Thanks for reading!

All stats unless otherwise noted are from Hockey Reference.