The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Jake Muzzin for the next little while, as the defenseman returned home to recover from last night’s scary incident. After being involved in an awkward collision and appearing to slam his head on the ice, Muzzin left the game and was taken to a Montreal hospital. He has now been released, returned to Toronto, and is “feeling better today” according to head coach Sheldon Keefe, who spoke with reporters including Mark Masters of TSN.
Muzzin, whose 33rd birthday it was yesterday, has had a nightmare season that already included a different concussion. The veteran defenseman has just 12 points in 41 games and has been on the ice for 43 goals against at even-strength, compared to just 34 goals for. That imbalance has been arguably the worst part of the Maple Leafs’ season, as Muzzin had previously been one of the most reliable two-way defensemen in the league, able to match up against an opponent’s best and tilt the ice in Toronto’s favor.
As he leaves, Rasmus Sandin, who was scratched from yesterday’s game, returns. He’ll be joined by newcomer Ilya Lyubushkin, who takes the spot of Justin Holl, who is not expected to play tonight.
Muzzin’s absence though leaves many questions to be answered in Toronto. Will he be able to find his previous level of play, or even be able to return at all? Putting him on long-term injured reserve doesn’t really do the team any good unless he is going to miss the rest of the season, meaning an unclear recovery timeline will only complicate their deadline plans. Hopefully, he’ll be able to recover without issue in the coming days and weeks, even if his return to the ice takes a little longer than that.
Hopefully muzzin is gonna sit out for a while. Rather he looks after his health then rush back from his 2nd concession in such a short time. Hayes and O’Dog mentioned they think he should sit out to playoffs so they can get a major piece at the deadline and recover properly of course
@Gavin – The entire last paragraph is spot on, especially regarding the long-term health concerns. It seems as though the league is still showing somewhat callous disregard toward concussions. I don’t believe that some of these players should be getting cleared to come back as soon as they have been, and occasionally end up going back on IR because of it. I, personally, would like to see more push back from guys when they don’t feel right. Goalies are at the top of the list for me, but D-men seem to get rushed, as well.