Toronto Maple Leafs: Who Slots In For Injured Mitch Marner?

Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner suffered an ankle injury against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.

Yesterday the Toronto Maple Leafs P.R dept. notified us that Marner had undergone an MRI and would be out for four weeks, minimum.

They are calling it a high ankle sprain.

The Leafs – who have already been without Tavares for about half the season so far – just can’t seem to put together a stretch of games with a healthy roster.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner

The Leafs PR Release:

This is a pretty big loss to a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it also gives them another chance to showcase the depth they have within the team.

After a tough six-game span without John Tavares, the Leafs look to move forward on the right foot.

“He’s a big part of this team, plays some pretty key roles in special teams, five-on-five, he’s a special player,” said Auston Matthews after a 5-4 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, “He’s gonna be missed obviously, but those things happen, we gotta move on without him.”

So far this season, Marner was playing at a point per game pace — playing 18 games and scoring four goals and adding 14 assists.

Who slots in for the injured Marner?

A lot of people are talking about Pierre Engvall getting called up. Right now with the Toronto Marlies, he has 12 points in 13 games and has been dominant since the season started.

For me, I think one other player should get the chance before Engvall — Nic Petan.

I believe he has a ton to offer to this Toronto Maple Leafs team. We all know that he doesn’t belong in the AHL, so it’s time bring him back up.

Kyle Dubas told Petan that he would try and find a team where he can play full-time, instead of going back and forth. If you give him a full month playing full-time, I think we will be able to see the potential he has, and when the time comes, we can trade him.

If we’re lucky, Petan will play good and maybe, we can get a few picks out of it.

I think Petan deserves the chance to get a spot on the Leafs right now. If you know the story, you know he’s had a rough year so far and this could change that.

He has seven points in three games so far with the Marlies. He doesn’t belong there.

This could be the last chance to change the way teams in the NHL view Petan. He’s a much better player than people think and I think, given the opportunity, he can change a lot of people’s minds.

All I know is this — he doesn’t belong in the AHL, so he needs to be traded to an NHL team or, he needs to play with his current NHL team and show how good he can be.