TORONTO — When Mitch Marner suffered his high-ankle sprain in Boston, the Toronto Maple Leafs expected their all-star winger to be sidelined for “maybe a week or two,” according to GM Brad Treliving, with what is being characterized as a minor injury.
Well, the two-week mark will pass without Marner participating in a team practice, let alone a game.
Though Marner did test out the ankle in a couple of solo skates late last week, he is now taking time to continue his rehab without jamming his foot into a skate boot.
“It hasn’t been responding the way that they had hoped, so just stepping back a little bit with it,” coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters at Monday’s practice in Toronto.
Marner will not play in Philadelphia Tuesday nor Washington Wednesday as the staff ramps him back up to skating this week.
The Leafs are 2-0-1 since his absence and have no reason to rush such a valuable performer into action.
“We’re being cautious with it. It’s nothing we feel is going to be long-term at all,” Treliving told Sportsnet’s Sean Reynolds at the GM meetings in Florida.
“Hopefully he’s going to be back sooner rather than later.”
Special teams in trouble?
Marner’s unavailability is a contributor to — but not the sole reason for — Toronto’s sagging results in odd-man situations.
The Leafs have been outscored 8-1 on special teams this month, and that inefficiency proved the difference in Saturday’s blown-lead loss to the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday. Their PK is averaging a goal against over the past seven games; their PP has cashed in just once over its past 22 opportunities.
We’re raising a flag of concern here because sloppy special teams have played a significant factor in Toronto’s postseason failures.
Since the Auston Matthews–William Nylander–Marner era began in 2016-17, the Leafs’ PK has operated at just 75.3 per cent in the playoffs. That’s 26th of all 30 teams that have appeared in at least one series during that stretch.
Further, their much-lauded power play has dropped from a total of 24.3 per cent (third) in all regular seasons of the Matthews-Nylander-Marner era to 18.6 (15th) come playoff time.
Yikes.
Keefe tweaked his struggling power-play units at Monday’s practice, letting Timothy Liljegren run point on PP1 with Matthews, Nylander, John Tavares, and Tyler Bertuzzi.
The coach likes Liljegren’s right shot up top and Bertuzzi’s bite, down low.
Morgan Rielly now heads up the lightly used second unit with Max Domi, Bobby McMann, Nick Robertson, and Matthew Knies.
“Moving the puck with authority, quickly. If you have a lane, shoot it. As a group of guys, we want to get the power-play back on track. It takes all of us,” Rielly said.
“It’s going to go for us eventually.”
Benny’s back
Healthy scratched in favour of Liljegren all three games since the trade deadline passed, Simon Benoit will get back into action Tuesday at Wells Fargo Center.
Rugged defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin missed Monday’s practice due to illness and did not fly with the team to Philadelphia.
Benoit has been a pleasant surprise for the Leafs. He should be reenergized by his 12 days out of action and eager to build his case to be in the lineup come Game 83.
“I’d expect it to be a little bit better, quite honestly. He’s stepped back from the lineup and watched, and that’s motivating in and of itself. But also, the league is hard when you’re playing all the time,” Keefe said.
“When you come back into the lineup, you expect to have a little bit more.”
One-Timers: A diplomatic Treliving said Monday that the Maple Leafs’ crease remains an open competition and that he’s happy to be dressing two healthy, capable goalies. With Toronto facing two back-to-backs this week, Ilya Samsonov and Joseph Woll should get two starts apiece … Calle Järnkrok (hand) was retroactively placed on long-term injured reserve; defenceman Conor Timmins (mononucleosis) was activated. The earliest Järnkrok can return is April 8 … The third-seed Maple Leafs have only a 12 per cent chance of moving up the Atlantic standings and just a six per cent chance of falling to the wild card, according to SportsClubStats.com … Prized prospect Easton Cowan dialed his OHL point streak up to 34 games Sunday. That’s a London Knights record.
Maple Leafs projected lineup Tuesday in Philadelphia
Bertuzzi – Matthews – Holmberg
McMann – Domi – Nylander
Knies – Tavares – Robertson
Dewar – Kampf – Reaves
Rielly – Brodie
Benoit – McCabe
Edmundson – Liljegren
Woll
Samsonov
