Marner didn't want to get into specifics on the lower-body injury but noted it had nothing to do with his previous game.
SEATTLE — Mitch Marner will return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup when the club visits the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.
The star forward missed Toronto's 6-3 victory against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday due to a lower-body injury. While Marner didn't want to reveal specifically what had forced him out, he did say the injury did not occur during his last game, Toronto's 4-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
"Nothing to do with the game. I really don't know. We had a great off day at the Nordic Spa in Calgary. I don't know if people think that maybe going in the tubs or something was how it acted. I don't know. It was weird," Marner explained. "I'm not sure how it really happened. It was just bizarre. It kind of felt to come on the night before the Calgary game. Yeah, it was just weird."
That's good news for Marner, who is set to take part for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament later this month.
"It was just a spasm thing," Marner said. "There was nothing about that game, how it happened. It was bizarre. It was great after the game the next day too. And then, yeah, it just kind of sprung upon the following day. It was crazy."
The Leafs took a cautious approach with their leading scorer. Marner has 70 points in 52 games with the Maple Leafs this season. He will return on a line with John Tavares and William Nylander, as head coach Craig Berube looks to build off the momentum seen from Max Domi playing on the top line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies.
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