The Maple Leafs just made an unusual call with their top-minute players
Photo credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs are trying a different approach to resting their top players, as they elected to have them workout instead of taking the ice for practice.
Coming off a brutal 5-2 loss at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a few days to reset themselves before they take the ice again.
Why Craig Berube is resting Toronto's top-minute players in an unusual way
Dealing with several injuries, the extra time is a great help to not only those who are out, but those who are also a little banged up but still playing.
So with their team needing a bit of reset, they've decided to take a new approach.
According to David Alter, the team decided to let their top-minute players skip practice and instead have a workout, whereas the depth guys will take the ice.
Based on last game's usage, the following players almost certainly skipped practice:
All of these players had over 16 minutes of ice time with the defensemen logging over 21 minutes each.
That leaves players like Max Domi, Matias Maccelli, Dakota Joshua, Dakota Mermis, etc. working together in practice, and knowing how badly the depth pieces need to pick it up, some extra reps is a good starting point.
Plus, this team is already injury-prone as is, and risking them being overworked after a tough stretch of long games; it's the team's way of avoiding the worst.
How this rare break could impact Wednesday's lineup
Typically, you get very little time to relax if you're a Maple Leaf, as the team is often scheduled for back-to-back games or only have a day of rest in between.
With a huge gap of time, it gives their injured a few more days to get back to health without jeopardizing a win or a loss, and it allows the guys who need to rest to well, rest.
Take Scott Laughton for example. He just returned after two separate injuries that has prevented him from finding his footing; having played over 16 minutes, it was a lot to ask from him, and offering him a chance to recoup is showing Toronto might be a bit more proactive about injuries than we think.
Wednesday is still going to be tough, but with their injured players slowly making their way back and a hopefully refreshed and fully focused lineup -- the Maple Leafs might still have a fighting chance to stabilize their season.
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