Tough Blow for the Maple Leafs as Another Key Defenseman Suddenly Sidelined

As the Maple Leafs head into the final stretch of the season, they take on bitter rivals Montreal on Saturday night, and they are going to be shorthanded yet again, as Jake McCabe and David Kampf are still out injured and are expected to miss the game.

It's an unfortunate series of events for the team, and it couldn't come at a worse time. However, practice on Friday also saw the absence of another defenseman, leaving Toronto's back end a big question mark.

It was revealed that Oliver Ekman-Larsson ended up not skating for the team in a concerning sign that yet another player is injured, in a season that's been filled with ailments to nearly every single player at one point or another.

While he's not as important as McCabe, losing Larsson would be huge given that Toronto doesn't have much defensive depth beyond him. The team already needs to use Philippe Myers, and now with Ekman-Larsson being out, they're relying on Jani Hakanpaa, who is on the LTIR.

But it comes at a time where Toronto is just over a week away from starting their first round series, and a weakened and lacking defense corps is going to spell disaster.

Signed to a four-year deal this past offseason, he hasn't been the level of elite defenseman in previous years obviously, but he's certainly been a lot better than fans anticipated.

In 77 games, Ekman-Larsson has 29 points (4G, 25A) with 108 hits, 83 blocks, and a plus-14 rating in 21:04 TOI; the most he's had since 2021-22.

While we don't know the full extent of the injury, Craig Berube did relent that his defenseman would miss Saturday's game, with Toronto only dressing five defenders, and Ekman-Larsson is that ever deadly 'day-to-day'.

Whatever happens, the fact of the matter remains: Toronto won't be able to succeed if they aren't healthy and this latest injury might seal their fate come the first round.