John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok Expected to Practice With Maple Leafs on Wednesday and Other Injury Updates
Both players did not take part in the main group session due to lower-body injuries.
John Tavares and Calle Jarnkrok are expected to participate in the team's practice session in Bracebridge on Wednesday despite skating with the rest of the team's injured players on Monday.
The forwards — along with Jani Hakanpaa (knee), Connor Dewar (shoulder) and Alex Steeves (lower body), who all wore red non-contact jerseys — took to the ice before the Maple Leafs skated.
Ben Danford, who suffered a concussion before Toronto and the Montreal Canadiens' Prospect Showdown, was also on the ice with the injured group but was in a regular jersey.
"Tavares and Jarnkrok were good today," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said after practice on Monday. "I expect them in full practice next practice."
Tavares picked up a lower-body injury during the team's pre-season game against Montreal on Thursday after he was hit awkwardly along the boards by Michael Pezzetta.
The Maple Leafs' forward remained on Toronto's bench for the remainder of the game, but only played a few shifts in the third period on Thursday.
"My leg was getting pretty stiff from the hit I took there in the first. It wasn't so bad afterwards but kind of throughout the second and especially in the third it just got really, really stiff and I didn't have much," Tavares said post-game on Thursday.
"I told Craig (Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube) I was just going to keep him short, but I think he just determined to give me the rest of the night off."
When playing, Tavares centered the Maple Leafs' third line with Max Pacioretty on the left and Nikita Grebenkin — plus at times, Easton Cowan — on the right wing. Both young forwards were at practice on Monday, with Cowan rotating through Toronto's top six and Grebenkin rotating through the bottom six.
The Maple Leafs will head to Muskoka for a few days of team bonding before playing their final two pre-season games —in Detroit on Thursday and at home against the Red Wings on Saturday — ahead of the NHL's regular season, which begins Oct. 9.
Related
News from THN.com