The Maple Leafs trotted out six left-handed defensemen against the Calgary Flames on Nov. 10
The Maple Leafs trotted out six left-handed defensemen against the Calgary Flames on Nov. 10
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Timothy Liljegren when they host the Vegas Golden Knights at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
The right-handed defenseman was injured during the club's 4-3 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. It's not known what the injury is, but Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed that the 24-year-old remains day-to-day.
The Maple Leafs practiced on Monday without Liljegren and trotted out some defensive pairs that saw Morgan Rielly skate with Simon Benoit, but the latter defenseman indicated during the team's optional morning skate that he was likely to continue skating with Jake McCabe.
"I suspect we'll be moving things around quite a fair bit," Keefe said when asked about his defensive deployment.
With Conor Timmins still recovering from mononucleosis and John Klingberg shut down for the season after season-ending hip surgery, the Leafs have been short of right-handed defensemen all season long.
Jake McCabe has settled into Keefe's most reliable right-side left-handed defenseman. Although that title used to belong to TJ Brodie, the defenseman has struggled this season and yielded better results when moved over to the left side to skate with Liljegren.
"Morgan (Rielly) took some shifts on the left side. Benoit has probably spent the least time on the right side which is why we gave him some reps there yesterday," Keefe explained.
On Nov. 10, the Leafs were forced to dress six left-handed defensemen for the first time in Keefe's tenure as coach.
"I don't like it," Keefe said. "There are some positives to playing on your off side, too. If you're playing a better team game, overall, you enhance those positives and if you are not playing well as a team you can enhance those negatives."
The Maple Leafs went on to defeat the Calgary Flames 5-4 in a shootout.
Mark Giordano will slot into the lineup in Liljegren's place. The 40-year-old defenseman did not accompany the Leafs on their four-game road trip to grieve the loss of his father, Paul.
Could the Leafs use Mitch Marner for some shifts on right defense?
When the Maple Leafs were short players for a game against the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 17, William Lagesson was injured early in the contest and Mitch Marner moved over to play some shifts at right defense. The level of opponent between the Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights is quite different, but if the Leafs run into some issues on the back end, you have to wonder if Marner will get some looks again in this spot.
Whatever happens, Liljegren's injury along with a host of others reinforces why the Leafs are reportedly still trying to land another right-handed defenseman. The way things are going, they may need two of them.
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