The Toronto Maple Leafs have been missing about half of their regular forwards, but they are going to get some help on Saturday when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been without Auston Matthews for the last nine games, where, despite having a very good 7-2 record, they have only scored 9 5v5 goals in total. which is pretty bad.
The Leafs have been extremely fortunate to find themselves in first place after nine games without their best player, and optimism for the season, though possibly misplaced, has never been higher.
As for Knies, according to Mark Masters, he practiced in a regular jersey yesterday and is also good to against Tampa.
Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies could potentially be in the lineup on Saturday
The Leafs injury list is ridiculous - with Bobby McMann going down on Wednesday, they have over half their regular forwards out.
The Leafs are missing Matthews, Knies, McMann, Max Pacioretty, Max Domi, David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok and Ryan Reaves. That is eight of 12 players that they'd likely dress if they had a fully healthy lineup.
However, that is also pretty misleading. Obviously Matthews and Knies hurt to lose. But McMann hasn't missed a game, no one expected anything out of Pacioretty (though he has been excellent), and Jarkrok hasn't played a game all season, so he isn't really missed.
Additionally, the suspension to Reaves actually helps the team, and Domi and Kampf have been so bad and have contributed so little that their injuries may also be helping the Toronto Maple Leafs to dress a better lineup.
No one wants to see guys injured, but this is probably a blessing in disguise for the Leafs because its forcing them to play Nick Roberston with players like William Nylander, and to give prospects such as Alex Steeves, Fraser MInten and Nikita Grebenkin a chance to play.
Frankly, as much as the team misses Matthews and Knies, Steeves, Grebenkin and Minten are all clearly useful NHL players. They aren't hurting the team and it looks like they are going to force the Leafs management to make some hard decisions.
Kampf, Domi, Reaves and Jarnkrok represent close to ten million dollars in cap space and could give the Leafs a lot of flexibility to improve their team if internal replacements are already in place. In the meantime, reenforcements seem to be coming for the Leafs next game.