When a 5-4 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks isn’t the worst news of the night, you know the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a bit of trouble.
In a statement released during Sunday’s game, Toronto said that Mitch Marner underwent an MRI Sunday after sustaining an ankle injury in Saturday’s game against Philadelphia and is expected to be out of the lineup for a minimum of four weeks, at which point he will be reassessed.
Marner was injured after the opening faceoff of the second period when he fell on his right leg. He would return later in the contest to test his ankle but shortly after the trial went back to the locker room for good.
Toronto will get a minor boost to its lineup with Zach Hyman set to return from offseason surgery sometime next week. Prior to the Marner injury, the Leafs had a potential salary cap issue looming which forced the team to place forward Nic Petan and defenseman Martin Marincin on waivers earlier this week, but both went unclaimed. However, if Marner were to be placed on Long Term IR, the issue could resolve itself for the time being.
But that is the only minor positive to the injury. Marner had 18 points in as many games and was a key cog alongside John Tavares at the top of the lineup. Jason Spezza had the first crack next to the Leafs captain Sunday against the Blackhawks, but that position is expected to be a revolving door until the right trio presents itself.
“Really disappointed for Mitch, disappointed for our hockey team,” coach Mike Babcock told reporters after the game. “In saying that, someone else is going to get an opportunity. As coaches, we’ve got to figure it out. We have to get our lines — I mean, we had a different line for each period [against Chicago] — we have to get our lines right to maximize the group we have and get the right people in the right spots.”
With seven of the its next eight games on the road, Toronto will need significant contributions from its entire roster in order to replicate Marner’s production, and keep the Maple Leafs on the inside looking out in regard to the playoff race.
The Leafs are well aware of how vital playoff positioning is, having lost in the first round in the previous two seasons against the Boston Bruins as the road team. In the Atlantic Division, six of the eight teams are above .500, and the race to the finish will be highly competitive.
If the Maple Leafs struggle to win games with Marner sidelined, the long-term ramifications could be unfavorable playoff positioning or potentially missing the postseason altogether.
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Scott Charles is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @ScottMCharles.
