Maple Leafs Make Breaking Roster Move Ahead of Showdown vs. Rangers

With the Toronto Maple Leafs looking to keep their momentum going after a three-game win streak, they head into the Big Apple to take on J.T. Miller and the New York Rangers on Friday night with hopes of regaining their Atlantic Division lead.

But it seems like the team will need to do it without the services of veteran winger Max Pacioretty, who unfortunately found himself back on the IR once again, the team officially announced on Friday morning.

It's unknown the extent of the injury to Pacioretty, or if this is a case of letting him just take a few days off to heal and the team wanted to add some reinforcements just in case.

In a corresponding move, the team called up defenseman Marshall Rifai from the Toronto Marlies. Rifai has been called up before but hasn't seen in-game action as of yet.

With concerns about Chris Tanev's injury status although he avoided the worst, it's a good thing that Craig Berube has some extra blueline reinforcements on their road trip.

This season, Pacioretty has five goals and eight assists in 37 games with Toronto. He's already had to deal with several injuries this season, including two against his former club, the Montreal Canadiens.

So how can Toronto weather the Pacioretty injury?

Pacioretty has been injured since Feb. 19, and in that span the team has won three in a row, and while they've struggled a bit at times, they've had a lot of surprises who have aided them on their streak.

Nick Robertson, and Pontus Holmberg have started to find their offensive spark again, Alex Steeves finally scored his first NHL goal and looked like a solid fourth line spark plug, and the rest of the team put in a concentrated effort over their last three.

It's not to say the team would have been better or worse with Pacioretty in the lineup, but clearly something is working.

Plus, the team is expecting Calle Jarnkrok back soon. If he can come in and play solid 3C or wing while also swapping in on the fourth line with David Kampf and Steven Lorentz to form a super-defensive line; where does Pacioretty go?

The Maple Leafs have to see the next couple of games to figure out exactly what to do with Pacioretty, and the trade deadline will give us a clearer idea of what his role is going forward.

We hope it's not the end of Pacioretty though, as a once hated rival has endeared himself to the Leafs faithful and his comeback story is truly inspirational.