Mitch Marner 'Excited' For Return to Maple Leafs Lineup Against Canadiens After Missing 12 Games with Ankle Injury
Marner hasn't played since suffering the injury on Mar. 7 against the Boston Bruins.
Mitch Marner is ready to return to the Maple Leafs lineup on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.
The 26-year-old forward has skated with the team for the last week but hasn't appeared in the lineup since suffering an ankle injury in Toronto's 4-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Mar. 7.
Marner was on a line with John Tavares and Bobby McMann at practice on Friday as head coach Sheldon Keefe spread the team's top forwards across three lines. William Nylander was ultimately moved to the third line, which meant Nick Robertson would become an extra.
With all of that occurring, it signalled Marner's return was approaching.
Marner told reporters following practice on Friday that he's "excited" to get back into the Maple Leafs' lineup. But he also understands it will be challenging given how long he's been out.
"I just want to get back, get back into the rhythm of things and try to contribute to help our team win games," he told reporters on Friday.
Given how Toronto's top line of Tyler Bertuzzi, Auston Matthews, and Max Domi has performed, Keefe opted to keep the trio intact, which is why Marner is with Tavares and McMann.
“The last stretch of games, going back to the Edmonton game (a 6-3 win against the Oilers on March 23), I’ve used John primarily as the top defensive matchup,” Keefe told reporters, including the Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan. “I’ll continue with that. Mitch’s presence on that line enhances my ability to do that.
"It frees Auston up a little bit more for his line, but when you’re doing something like this, you have an eye toward what it maybe could look like in the playoffs. In the playoffs, you know you have to be able to rely on more than one line. You want to be able to just roll your group and not have to overthink it. That is a step toward looking that way."
Along with line rushes, Marner returned to his usual spot on Toronto's top power play unit. It'll be welcomed given the Maple Leafs' struggles on the man advantage since the forward went down with an injury.
Toronto has had the second-worst power play percentage (10.3%) in the NHL since Mar. 7, only behind Montreal (10%). The Maple Leafs were second in the league at 27.5% on the power play from the beginning of the season to when Marner was injured.
The forward has 76 points (25 goals, 51 assists) in 62 games this season.
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