Sheldon Keefe updates the media on the status of Ondrej Kase; it's not good news unfortunately
The Leafs received some good news regarding Auston Matthews on Tuesday, with the American forward turning up a negative result on his PCR test just a day after a rapid test came back positive.
There is some bad news to report as well, however. Per head coach Sheldon Keefe, winger Ondrej Kase is listed as day-to-day after injuring himself during a pre-practice workout.
Kase has been largely excellent for the Leafs this season, after signing a 1-year, $1.25M deal with the Leafs during this offseason. His 16 points are good for 8th in overall team scoring, behind only Matthews, Tavares, Nylander, Rielly, Marner, Bunting and Kerfoot, but his 8 goals rank him 4th on the team, behind only Matthews (20), Nylander (15) and Tavares (13).
The Czech winger has found tremendous chemistry with fellow countryman David Kampf on the Leafs' third line, but Kase has seen time in the top 6 this season as well and has not looked out of place when he's been there.
While Kase hasn't officially been ruled out of Wednesday's game against the Oilers, it is probably in Toronto's best interest to ensure that he is as close to 100% as possible before bringing him back in, as his injury history is a bit of a concern.
Kase will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season, but all signs point to the 26-year-old really enjoying himself in Toronto, so we'll see if that might lead to him agreeing to take a bit less to remain where he is. Early projections have Kase in the $3.5M-$4.5M range if he continues to contribute at the rate that he has to this point.
