No More Injuries … Please
With the Leafs making just minimal moves at this year’s trade deadline, they are counting heavily on every player on their current roster to play at their best.
In doing so, the combined effort would help lead the team to success down the stretch and hopefully into the playoffs. However, many of their key players have been dropping like flies in recent weeks in terms of the injury front.
We have already mentioned Marner and his high ankle sprain, who obviously is one of the key superstars that drive the bus for this Leafs team, so they definitely need him back as soon as possible.
But on top of that, key players such as Calle Jarnkrok, Morgan Rielly, Mark Giordano, Timothy Liljegren, along with even newcomer Joel Edmundson now, have all miss some significant chunks of time in recent weeks due to both minor and major ailments.
For the Leafs to be at their best, they will need a full healthy roster (or at least as close to one as possible) heading into the playoffs in order for them to have any chance at getting out of the Atlantic Divison and eventually the daunted Eastern Conference.
As a result, hopefully when the current core of injured players make their way back into the everyday lineup, the Leafs will not suffer any more ill-timed injuries to put them in a bind at this time of the year when things matter most. (All stats from NHL.com)
Overall, if the Leafs can somehow address and managed these issues in the coming weeks, they could be going into the Stanley Cup playoffs as an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. Otherwise, we could be in for another frustrating early exit once again.