The Toronto Maple Leafs got some good news today.
No, their GM didn't come out of hibernation to put together a trade to bolster the NHL's thinnest centre-ice position (it's honestly unclear if the Toronto Maple Leafs even have a GM at this point).
What happened was that Jake McCabe came back to practice, which is great news because he's missed the last four games with a head injury which he suffered on January 5th against the Flyers.
McCabe made the stupid decision to get into a fight, even though he's the team's best defenseman and shouldn't be fighting, which resulted in hitting his head on the ice, likely giving him his second concussion in a few weeks. If it's not a concussion, then certainly they are being cautious because it's a head injury at the very least.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Get Some Much Needed Good News
It was the last game in November, against the Tampa Bay Lightning, when McCabe was hit in the head with a puck. He missed five games and two weeks.
In the NHL, reporters are so into following the league's secretive nonsense when it comes to injuries that I've actually seen multiple articles this morning say that McCabe is out with an "upper body injury" which is just so stupid that it's embarrassing. You saw the guy get into a fight and hit his head - the least you can do is trust your eyes.
Personally, I refuse to even use these ridiculous euphemisms at any time, but if I see a guy hit his head, I'm not going to say he has an upper-body injury because I actually respect myself.
As for McCabe, I still think they made a bad decision to re-sign him just based on the age of the other players on their blue-line that they've already committed to. Tanev, OEL, McCabe and Rielly isn't that good of a top-four right now, and they're all 31 or older already. Having it locked in for like a half a decade seems extremely dumb, but what do I know?
I do know that right now, McCabe is posting some incredible numbers despite playing (what I assume are) the toughest minutes on the team. McCabe has a 53% Expected Goals rating, which is extremely good considering the usage, and a bonkers 59% actual goals rating, with the Leafs winning 34-23 in his minutes this year so far. (Naturalstattrick.com).
So it is very good news that McCabe is back practicing. No word on if he'll play tomorrow or not, but I doubt it since he only stayed on the ice for about ten minutes, though I'm surprised TSN was even that specific and didn't say he played for "the rightish side of the clock" before leaving.