Sandin suffered a neck injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday and needs more time to be evaluated, according to Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe.
Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Rasmus Sandin will not be in the lineup when the team hosts the Philadelphia Flyers in their final game before the holiday break.
“We’ll use the break to get a better sense of where he’s at,” Maple Leafs head Sheldon Keefe said following the team’s practice on Wednesday.
Sandin did not skate with the team during their final tune-up. The 22-year-old left Tuesday’s 4-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a neck injury early in the second period.
He joins a list of defensemen who are or have been injured at some point this season for Toronto. They are currently without Morgan Rielly (knee) and Jake Muzzin (cervical neck issue) Victor Mete (lower-body) and Carl Dahlstrom (shoulder). They've been without TJ Brodie (oblique) and Timothy Liljegren (hernia) for other stretches of the season as well.
Jordie Benn has been injured twice this season, first with a groin injury and then an upper-body ailment.
Benn practiced with Liljegren on Wednesday and will slot in in Sandin’s place in the lineup on Thursday.
Sandin had seen his minutes increase in the wake of Toronto’s injuries to defense. Averaging over 16 minutes a game in his career, that number was increased this season after taking on a top-four role and has averaged 18:06 this season. He has two goals and 14 points in 33 games in 2022-23.
Both Benn and Liljegren spent time with the Toronto Marlies together as part of a conditioning stint in late October.
The Leafs had cleared Benn from his upper-body injury and activated him off injured reserve last week but have yet to put him in the lineup. Toronto has found some chemistry in newly-acquired defenseman Conor Timmins, who has six points in seven games since joining the club.
Benn has a goal and an assist in six games with the Leafs this season. They signed the 35-year-old to a one-year, $750,000 contract this summer.
’He did a really good job for us stepping in at a time when we really needed him with our injuries,” Keefe said of Benn. “He’s got a great personality about him in how he goes about his business, a popular guy in the room.”