Maple Leafs' Morgan Rielly Set to Return Against Lightning Following Injury, Joel Edmundson Takes Part in Morning Skate and a Calle Jarnkrok Update
Rielly is set to return after missing the last four games with an upper-body injury.
Slowly but surely, the Toronto Maple Leafs are getting healthier. Their defense will be bolstered on Wednesday when Morgan Rielly returns to the club's lineup after missing the last four games with an upper-body injury.
"I just want to come in and help the team and pick up where I left off," Rielly said following the club's morning skate. "It's not always easy coming back but it hasn't been that long so I don't expect any issues."
Rielly missed the club's last four games with an upper-body issue that he declined to specify. Earlier in the season he missed five games after he was suspended for cross-checking Ottawa's Ridly Greig in the face. The club went 5-0-0 in that span and Rielly wanted to ensure that the club could stay hot upon his return. They ended up going on a season-high seven-game winning streak, their longest such streak since 2003.
Mark Giordano is the odd man out. He spent the morning skate doing extra work on the ice and is the likely scratch to make room for Rielly's return.
Toronto has played the last four games without Rielly and defenseman Joel Edmundson. The latter has an unspecified injury, but he took the ice for the team's optional skate on Wednesday and there is a possibility he could join the team for practice on Friday.
"He's progressing well. It's all just a matter of how he handles each day," Keefe said of Edmundson. "I don't see him as an option for Saturday (against the Montreal Canadiens), though.
The Maple Leafs haven't specified Edmundson's injury. The defenseman was acquired on Mar. 7 in exchange for third and fifth-round draft picks. He has two penalty minutes in seven games with the Leafs and has primarily skated with Timothy Liljegren, who is also out with an upper-body injury.
Calle Jarnkrok back on the ice and the salary cap
Calle Jarnkrok was skating at Scotiabank Arena with skills staff before the team's optional skate on Wednesday. The forward has been out since Mar. 14 after sustaining his second-hand injury of the season. The forward wasn't shooting and doesn't appear anywhere close to returning. Complicating matters right now for the Leafs is the fact that they may not even have salary cap room for the forward anyway.
The Maple Leafs placed Mitch Marner on long-term injured reserve this week for roster management purposes, but they said he may return to the lineup this weekend. Once Marner is activated, the Leafs will have under $500,000 in cap room and no room to activate Jarnkrok's $2.1 million salary. Given that Keefe has said that Liljegren and Edmundson's injuries aren't expected to be to the point that they can't come back before the end of the regular season, it may just make the most sense for Jarnkrok to spend the next two weeks continuing to recover with the hope that he can return in time for Game 1 of the playoffs. At that point, the salary cap is no longer enforced.
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