TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs lineup is scribbled on the whiteboard posted inside the Scotiabank Arena visitors’ dressing room.
Every spot is filled out in dry-erase Sharpie except for second-line centre, where Max Domi’s name has been erased.
Literally, there sits a blank hole in the middle of the Leafs lineup.
So, who’s playing centre for Toronto now that Domi has joined Auston Matthews and David Kämpf on injured reserve?
“I was thinking about it,” smiled Craig Berube, who is the same age as Mike Tyson. “But…”
That the head coach of the Maple Leafs is able to laugh off the fact that half of his top-12 forwards — Matthews, Domi, Kämpf, Calle Järnkrok, Max Pacioretty, and Ryan Reaves — are MIA for Wednesday’s tilt against the Vegas Golden Knights is the result of a winning record, a light schedule, and some hopeful curiosity surrounding all these Marlies on the big stage.
With Domi now sidelined due to a nagging lower-body injury he’d been battling through for a couple weeks, the Maple Leafs recalled 21-year-old Russian winger Nikita Grebenkin, who will make his NHL debut months after hoisting the KHL’s Gagarin Cup.
“I feel perfect. Let’s go work today,” Grebenkin replied in careful English, when asked if he felt nervous about his first game in the show.
“Leafs give me a chance. I go work. Help team win. Not win, I not enjoy. Win today, I enjoy.”
That translates.
So does the maturity of recalled third-line centre Fraser Minten, who should feel encouraged by his early success in the AHL and having already gotten a four-game taste of the NHL last fall.
“They’re putting some trust in the depth that we have here,” Minten said. “And it’s up to us to go out there and make the most of it.”
The Leafs’ trust in these kids is a function of necessity, though.
The team is so injury-riddled and cap-pressed these days that Kämpf, whom GM Brad Treliving originally said might play Sunday, has now been shifted to long-term injured reserve to make space for Grebenkin’s modest $875,000 salary.
That means Kämpf cannot return until Dec. 14 in Detroit. It means more opportunity for the prospects.
“Both kids have a bright future,” Berube said. “Minten is a very intelligent player, two-way centreman, very responsible.”
Domi’s absence also opens another shot for Pontus Holmberg to play meaningful centre minutes. (Sadly, Berube won’t gear up.)
Domi hasn’t scored a goal this season and has been mired in a career-long, 13-game point drought.
“He wants to play, but we gotta do what’s best for him,” Berube explained. “We don’t play till Sunday. Get some rest and get healed up.”
After missing two practices last week, Domi gave it a whirl Tuesday but was the first player off the ice once Berube’s whistle sounded.
“He’s fighting through a lot right now,” Berube said. “He’s banged up, but I’m not overly concerned. I think we gotta keep working through it.
“We’re trying to get him to get to the hard areas of the ice a little bit more and get some goals there. Like, we put him in the bumper on the power play, on the second unit, last game, just to get him in the middle of the ice. He’s got a good shot, and we have full belief and Max will be fine. He’ll come around. And once one goes in for him, it’ll come.”
In the meantime, this is a fine night for fringe forwards and prospects like Minten, Grebenkin, Holmberg, Nick Robertson, and Alex Steeves to make themselves stand out.
“It is what it is,” William Nylander shrugs. “This is what happens during the season. This might be the most (injuries) we’ve had in a long time, but we’ll find a way to battle through.”
One-Timers: Jani Hakanpää takes a seat while Simon Benoit returns to the lineup after a pair of healthy scratches. Berube says it was a coach’s decision and not health related. He doesn’t want Benoit sitting too long…. Joseph Woll vs. Adin Hill is the goalie matchup, denying Ilya Samsonov a Toronto revenge night…. The nameplates inside the Maple Leafs dressing room are rainbow-coloured to celebrate Pride Night.
Maple Leafs projected lines Wednesday vs. Vegas Golden Knights:
McMann – Tavares – Marner
Knies – Holmberg – Nylander
Robertson – Minten – Grebenkin
Dewar – Lorentz – Steeves
Rielly – Ekman-Larsson
McCabe – Tanev
Benoit – Timmins
Woll starts
Stolarz
