The newly-acquired forward injured his shoulder during his team’s pre-season game against the Ottawa Senators. The Toronto Maple Leafs got some bad news on one of their depth defenseman for the upcoming season. Carl Dahlstrom will miss a minimum of six months with an injured shoulder and will require surgery. The Leafs requistioned an MRI on the Swedish defenseman on Tuesday after he was cross-checked along the boards by Rem Pitlick of the Montreal Canadiens on Monday. “It’s never a good time for such a thing, but when you are coming off a summer of training and preparation competing for a spot in the NHL, to get that news is pretty difficult,” Maple Leads head coach Sheldon Keefe said his defenseman. Dahlstrom was looking to build off a season where he finally returned to the NHL for a brief moment. He collected two assists in three games with the Maple Leafs last season and admitted his return was an emotional one after dealing with a pair of injuries that limited his playing time over the years. Jordie Benn was also injured in Monday’s 3-0 preseason victory against the Canadiens. He’ll be out a minimum of three weeks with a groin injury. Dahlstrom will likely be placed on Toronto’s long-term injured reserve when the season begins. The Maple Leafs are just under $3 million over the salary cap and need to get down to the $82.5 million threshold by Oct. 11. His average annual value is $750k, but since he is on a two-way contract, only a prorated amount of his deal will be eligible for LTI exception. The number will be based on the amount of days he was on a NHL roster last season.
