Leafs head coach confirms the worst for newly aquired forward Ryan O'Reilly and an update on captain John Tavares
The Toronto Maple Leafs returned to practice today ahead of their matchup tomorrow against the New Jersey Devils. After practice had concluded, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe provided an injury update on newly acquired forward Ryan O'Reilly and captain John Tavares.
O'Reilly left Saturday's game against the Vancouver Canucks after taking a puck to the left hand from an Auston Matthews shot. Keefe announced today that O'Reilly suffered a broken finger and that the team will be placing him on the LTIR, sidelining him for a minimum of 10 games and 24 days. With that said, the Leafs do expect him to return to the lineup before the playoffs, but a broken finger can take anywhere from three to six weeks to recover.
"We acquired him to be healthy and ready to go for the playoffs and that will be the case. Knowing that we'll have him ready for the playoffs is good and we'll see how it goes but I suspect he'll get a good chunk of regular season games too", Keefe stated following practice.
In other news, Tavares skated with the Leafs today but was not a part of the regular lines, instead wearing a grey extras jersey. In Saturday's game, he took a pair of hard hits near the head but remained in the game.
It seems Tavares was unwell and "not feeling himself" today. His participation in practice was a test to see where he was at in terms of availability. Keefe announced in his post-practice media session that Tavares will be kept out of tomorrow's game "out of an abundance of caution"
Tavares has 28 goals and 34 assists tallying 62 points in 63 games. He has not missed a single game this season until now. The Leafs claim that he is under the weather, but it is certainly a cause for concern in relation to the symptoms he's experiencing being synonymous with concussion symptoms. As just 19 games remain in the Leafs' regular season, the priority is to have everyone good to go for the playoffs.
| POLL | ||
6 MARS | 51 ANSWERS Leafs head coach confirms the worst for newly aquired forward Ryan O'Reilly and an update on captain John Tavares Will O'Reilly return before the playoffs? | ||
| Maybe | 13 | 25.5 % |
| No, I don't think so | 6 | 11.8 % |
| He should be back well ahead of time | 32 | 62.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
