While the Maple Leafs saw the return of Jake McCabe to practice, they also lost another defender as Marshall Rifai left practice early with an undisclosed issue.
Despite the Maple Leafs' injury woes this season, they have been able to somewhat steady the ship and are riding into Scotiabank Arena with two wins and a lot of momentum. The New York Rangers are next up and it's going to take a full team effort yet again to shut down their surprisingly hot start to the 2026-27 season.
The team got some great news as Jake McCabe returned after leaving Tuesday's game against Columbus with a gruesome-looking injury that left him bloodied. Thankfully it was nothing serious and McCabe is slotted to be back in the lineup on Thursday night.
McCabe returns but Rifai departs as Maple Leafs lose another body
However with one return comes another departure unfortunately for the Maple Leafs as defenseman Marshall Rifai ended up leaving practice early and was replaced by Nick Blankenburg:
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Rifai just earned himself a bit more of a shine due to the injury to Chris Tanev, and actually played a very solid game against Columbus - scoring his first career NHL goal as well in the 6-2 blowout.
But he's a player who has dealt with several injuries over the past few years, as he's had issues with his wrist which required him to get surgery and miss extensive time, and other various upper and lower-body injuries have kept him off the ice at various points.
He did however win a Calder Cup with the Marlies last season, and has been a workhorse for the team since signing - he earned his shot.
Bad luck for Rifai is a telling tale of his Maple Leafs journey
Toronto saw a lot of promise in Rifai, signing him to a two-year extension and consistently calling him up when they needed help, but he rarely found himself playing. It's bad luck that he left, and while we don't know the extent - much like McCabe - we hope it's not that serious.
But this may be telling of how things are going to go for Rifai. When one door opens, another closes it seems.
He gets his chance with Tanev out, plays two solid games, scores a goal...but gets hurt. Whenever he was healthy and called up, he never earned a shot, so he gets a chance with a promotion but no way to actually play.
This is a rough patch of luck for Rifai, as he never really got the chance to prove himself and at 28 years old, the clock is ticking. He shouldn't be an AHL-lifer but it feels like he may be and this potential injury can only lessen his chances of earning his spot in the lineup.
Do you think Marshall Rifai's injury is a serious problem for the Maple Leafs?
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