The Toronto Maple Leafs had some positive signs at practice on Monday that the injury to defenseman Tyson Barrie was not as serious as first thought, but the club made moves just in case the speedy blueliner is unable to play against the Buffalo Sabres in a key divisional matchup on Tuesday.
Barrie suffered an ankle injury after blocking a Gaetan Haas wrist shot in the first period of a 4-2 victory over Edmonton on Saturday. After leaving the ice and heading to the dressing room, the blueliner tested out his ankle during a TV timeout and before the second period, but could not return.
"I just came out at the beginning of the second [to test it] and I saw McDavid getting ready to go. I thought ‘I don’t want to get caught, he’s hard enough to play with two feet." Barrie said to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston on Monday.
X-rays taken during the game were negative, and the defenseman indicated after taking the ice and practicing alongside regular defense partner Morgan Rielly that while there was some swelling, he should be able to play against the Sabres.
The Leafs made moves on the 23-man roster to cover themselves, as they demoted winger Pontus Aberg and defenseman Martin Marincin to the American Hockey League on Sunday, and then brought back Marincin and Timothy Liljegren on emergency recall on Monday. The 20-year-old Liljegren has 13 points (2 goals, 11 assists) in 24 games with the Toronto Marlies, and could make his NHL debut if Barrie’s ankle regresses.
Barrie's injury did not have an effect on the Leafs making prospect Rasmus Sandin available for the upcoming World Juniors later this month, as the Leafs released the 19-year-old blueliner to play for Sweden in the Czech Republic.
In spite of not looking out of place in a six-game stint at the start of the season, the Leafs are not likely to recall Sandin the rest of the season and burn the first year of his entry-level deal, especially with the escalating costs of defensemen and Toronto’s lack of salary cap space over the next few seasons.
The Leafs made a few lineup tweaks at practice. Two lines (Zach Hyman-John Tavares-Mitch Marner and Pierre Engvall- Alex Kerfoot-Ilya Mikheyev) remained intact, but the unit centered by Auston Matthews had a slightly different look, as William Nylander skated on the left side and Kasperi Kapanen played his natural right wing. Trevor Moore inched closer to returning to action, practicing with Frederik Gauthier and Jason Spezza.
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