Both players have been out of the lineup with knee and neck injuries, respectively. TEMPE, Ariz. — Rasmus Sandin knew something was wrong on Dec. 20 when he couldn’t quite see clearly, despite being on the ice to help set up a power-play goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Earlier in the game, he had taken a stick to his neck and didn’t think anything of it until things got progressively worse. “My neck got swollen and I started to get blurry in my vision,” Sandin explained on Wednesday. “Probably from the swelling in my neck it was attached to a nerve or something like that.” That’s when the Leafs pulled Sandin from the game as a precaution and have been very careful with the defenseman since injury took place. Once the swelling went down, so too did the issue. Sandin has been a full participant at practice over the last couple of days since the team returned from the holiday break. “If there can be good timing for something like that, this was probably it,” Sandin said. The Leafs promptly put the Swedish defenseman on injured reserve following the game against Tampa and he has already fulfilled the requirement of missing a minimum of seven days. Now it’s just a matter of getting full clearance to return to action. He skated with Jordie Benn on an extra pair at practice on Wednesday. “We’ll take it a day at a time and go from there,” he said. Sandin has been one of several defensemen who have seen their role increase as veteran players on the Leafs have succcumbed to injury. One of those veteran players was Morgan Rielly, who is expected to return after missing over five weeks with a knee injury. In that time, Rielly said he was proud to see players like Sandin and Timothy Liljegren take an additional step in their game as NHL defensemen. “First off, it’s great to hear Morgan say that, that’s a role model for us young guys here on the team,” Sandin said of Rielly’s comments. “I think both me and Timothy have been taking steps the whole time.” When Sandin does eventually return, finding the right spot for him will be the next challenge. Rielly will start with Liljegren when the veteran defenseman returns on Thursday. Sandin is Toronto’s second-leading scorer on defense this season with 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) in 33 games.
