The Maple Leafs could go with 11 forwards and seven defenseman on Friday against Calgary with Ryan Reaves staying out late for extra work following Thursday's practice.
One day after Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said his club needed to do a better job of protecting John Klingberg, the defenseman found himself as the seventh defenseman at practice.
Klingberg admitted that things haven't been going well for him this season. Following Thursday's practice session, he spoke about some of the issues he's dealing with, specifically.
"I don’t feel like I’m moving my feet well," Klingber admitted. "There’s stuff to work on for sure."
The Maple Leafs signed Klingberg to a one-year, $4.15 million deal this summer. Expected to contribute offensively, the 31-year-old has five assists in 13 games this season and was a minus-3 and on the ice for four goals against in Toronto's 6-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
"I think when I’ve been really really struggling I think it’s when you’re trying to do too much," Klingberg said. "I told myself not to do that this stuff and just let the game come to me. But at the same time, I have to find ways to contribute both with the puck and without the puck."
Jake McCabe skated on a defensive pair with Mark Giordano at practice. Having missed the last six games with a groin injury, his return seems likely. Already without Timothy Liljegren (ankle) and Conor Timmins (lower-body), McCabe's rerturn would certain give the defense a new look that badly needs it.
"We have lots of question marks going into tomorrow," Keefe said. "A lot of it hinges on Jake McCabe's availability, we haven't decided anything final there.
"Eleven (forwards) and seven (defensemen) is an option, too."
It certainly looks like the Leafs are trending in that direction. Ryan Reaves stayed out late following practice to do some extra work and had a long conversation with the Leafs head coach. The forward has a team-worst minus-9 rating.
The Maple Leafs can "protect" Klingberg in a number of different ways. But unless the club figures out a way to play better defensive as a whole, the same issues can persist,.
The Leafs spent the entire session of practice working on defense and penalty kill, they're two biggest weaknesses thus far.
Giordano also had a tough night against the Senators and didn't put Wednesday's poor defensive game on Klingberg. Instead, he gave the biggest clue as to why things are breaking down.
"With the way our system is set up you can afford to make a mistake and guys can be there and cover for each other for each other," Giordano said. "We've proven we can do that through spurts in the past but we just hgave to get back to that.
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