Everything was rolling along all fine and dandy for the Toronto Maple Leafs as their offensive depth continued to terrorize teams. It seemed as though they had a recipe for success, and it was hard to find a ton to complain about in Leafs Nation (beyond the hold out and offensive struggles of William Nylander, that is).
All of a sudden, there’s a huge chink in the armor. Debatably the most important position, goaltender, has gone through an instant makeover due to injuries.
Frederik Andersen, who had been enjoying a fine season thus far, went down with a groin injury. It is not immediately clear how long he’ll be out, although he did get moved to the IR in order to clear roster space. Meanwhile, Garret Sparks – who was supposed to start for the Leafs Thursday afternoon – was unable to go after being placed in concussion protocol.
After both Curtis McElhinney and Calvin Pickard were claimed off waivers earlier in the year, the Leafs are left with newcomer Michael Hutchinson and AHLer Kasimir Kaskisuo to man the net.
While both Andersen and Sparks are labeled as “day-to-day”, head coach Mike Babcock’s comments may indicate the injuries are a little more serious that Leafs fans are hoping.
“I don’t know what’s going on, we were just talking about maybe finding another goalie,” Babcock said, per the Toronto Star. “We’d like (Kaskisuo) to get playing, we don’t want him to be sitting around. So maybe we’ve got to find another goalie and go from there.”
Andersen has worked out, although he has not returned to full practice. The absence of both goaltenders highlights an area that the Buds may need to address if they’re looking to make a serious run this year. A lack of quality goaltending is a huge problem for contenders.
Babcock said of Andersen:
“He was out again today,” Babcock said. “Everything is moving along according to our medical people that way, but it is what it is. I thought Hutch gave us an opportunity (against Minnesota), that’s all you can ask of him. Then we’ve got to do our part.”
(H/T Toronto Star)
