Toronto Maple Leafs missing 6 key players at practice: Will it impact opening night vs. Montreal Canadiens?
The Toronto Maple Leafs are missing a few key players from their main roster as practice commenced Friday, and it could leave the future of opening night doubtful.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off a strong preseason victory against the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday, winning 2-0 thanks to a fantastic performance from new goaltender Anthony Stolarz, and a two-goal performance from Nick Robertson, who has exploded this preseason with five goals in total.
So it was a bit of a worry and inconspicuous that Robertson and Stolarz were absent from the Maple Leafs practice on Friday, among other key players also missing the practice:
In addition to Stolarz and Robertson being absent, the Maple Leafs were also without Jake McCabe, Easton Cowan, Nikita Grebenkin, and Calle Jarnkrok. The absence of Jarnkrok may be understood as he is still recovering from an injuryhe suffered earlier in camp, but it's worrying that McCabe isn't on the ice.
He is expected to be one of the Maple Leafs Top-4 defensemen and without him, the team will feel his absence (although they have more than enough insurance for cases like this). Cowan and Grebenkin missing practice is unknown and it could be speculated it may have to do with them discussing their reassignment and future with the club; though that is unknown at this time.
Jarnkrok played on Thursday against Detroit however it looks like he re-aggravated his injury, and McCabe suffered one as well per the Toronto Maple Leafs official PR account on X:
Due to the absences of these players, the practice lines were a little bit different this morning but felt close to something the Maple Leafs would put out on opening night:
It's also noted that while Stolarz wasn't originally on the ice, he joined the practice later as David Alter of The Hockey News noted in his post on X. It's unknown why Stolarz wasn't there at the start but his return later on can only be a good sign. It's also troubling that Robertson, one of the biggest bright spots for the Maple Leafs this preseason was absent and fans can hope it was only due to a break due to his outstanding production this preseason.
Fans can hope that these aren't an indication of anything serious and these injuries don't put the opening night of the regular season in jeopardy.
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