The Maple Leafs have officially placed Mitch Marner on injured reserve retroactive to February 15th. In his place the team has recalled Frederik Gauthier from the AHL Toronto Marlies. Though moving Marner to IR sounds bad, he’ll still be available for Thursday’s game if healthy enough to go. As Kristen Shilton of TSN notes Gauthier was scratched in yesterday’s Marlies-Senators game, a curious decision before the call-up was confirmed.
The Leafs have been without their magic rookie for two games already and have felt his absence on the powerplay most of all, going 1/8 without him. Marner is one of the rare wingers that can drive an entire line, holding the puck for long stretches by himself. It had showed with 48 points in 56 games while skating alongside James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak for much of the season.
Gauthier is expected to figure into the lineup for Ben Smith, a fourth-line center that has had a lot of trouble this season between injury and inconsistency. Smith’s faceoffs, that were once considered one of his best skills, have diminished this season since the hand injury that needed surgery earlier in the year. Though Gauthier doesn’t offer much in the dot either, he’s a young former first-round pick that the Leafs want to develop into a shutdown role. He’ll get another chance tonight against the Winnipeg Jets, as Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine go head to head once again.
I put a band-aid on my Marner jersey and will wear my Matthews jersey game after game until you’re back. Then I’ll flip flop again.
Good job leafs. You’re overachieving and the fans love it. Hopefully there is a playoff series in your near future and we bring that excitement of hockey back to southern Ontario. If not….. I love how the team has played. It literally started when they made their coach the highest paid on the team. Pretty tough to coach ego when they make more than you. Everyone has a boss, right? And if you are the boss this will still apply. The boss makes the most money because he’s in charge. The boss makes the most money because he makes the hardest decisions. We all listen to the boss because he has the ability to mess up my meal ticket. Therefore, paying Babcock the most worked. He was able to walk into a dressing room when he got there and didn’t need to take any shit from the likes of kessel, lupul, phaneuf and the rest of the plugs we gave away. Good on ya Toronto for building the foundation to this mansion nice and strong. You’ll see it still standing in 20 years like the red wing dynasty was. Get better Marner. This team needs every one of its pieces.