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Toronto Maple Leafs: Bad Injury News, and a Waiver Claim

By James Tanner

MONTREAL, QC - MAY 25: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks on prior to a face-off against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period in Game Four of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 25, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - MAY 25: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks on prior to a face-off against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period in Game Four of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Bell Centre on May 25, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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The Toronto Maple Leafs finished the NHL preseason with one of the NHL’s best records, at 5-1.

Of course, the preseason standings are meaningless, but nevertheless, we’d be complaining if their record was bad, so it’s at least worth pointing out.  The Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday in their season opener.

The Leafs ended training camp with a flurry of roster moves and a couple of injury announcements.

First the bad news: Auston Matthews won’t play in any of the team’s first three games.  Matthews has his wrist surgically repaired this summer, and he should be ready to go next week, but for now the Leafs will cautious and keep him out of the lineup.

Ilya Mikheyev is not so fortunate. After looking to break camp as the left winger on the Toronto Maple Leafs second line, he instead broke his thumb and will now miss eight weeks.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Adam Brooks

Despite the injury news, perhaps the most disappointing thing for the Leafs on Monday was losing centre Adam Brooks on waivers.

The fringe NHLer spent years in the Leafs system, becoming a solid AHL player and earning a job on the NHL roster after years of determination.

The Leafs drafted Brooks in 2016, and though he’s never going to be a star player, he was a fun player to cheer for because of his great attitude and work ethic.  Fourth round picks who make the NHL almost always become fan favorites, and Brooks was no different.  He was well liked, and many people were hoping he’d become a regular this season.

Though his loss is not really consequential from a competitive standpoint (the Leafs could make about five solid 4th lines, they are so deep) losing Brooks still stings.

On the bright side, Michael Amadio has made the team.  He has a 173 games of NHL experience, mostly with the LA Kings, and he has 40 career points.  I am sure that there are reasons for picking him over brooks, but I’m not going to sit here and pretend to know what they are.

Both are 25, both make basically the same salary (Amadio technically makes 25K more) and both are RFA at the end of the season.  I suppose it came down to experience, and perhaps versatility. Either way, it won’t have a huge impact on the roster.

Next. Leafs Top 10 Prospects (Brand New for 2022). dark

Personally, I’d be playing Pierre Engvall over either of them.

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