Craig Berube Shares Initial Update on Injury to Leafs' Oliver Ekman-Larsson

After playing 5:21 of ice time in the first period on Saturday against the Edmonton Oilers, Oliver Ekman-Larsson was not on the Leafs' bench for the start of the second period.

At the time, his injury was unknown, but forced the Leafs to play with five defencemen and also had them rely a little too heavily on Simon Benoit and Conor Timmins for the final 40 minutes.

Following a nail-biting third period that saw the Oilers' tying goal called back because of an offside, Berube was able to provide a bit of clarity on the type of injury to the 15-year NHL veteran, noting that Ekman-Larsson was considered "day-to-day".

Berube provided very minimal information about the injury, admitting that he didn't know when, where or how it happened.

The Swedish blueliner had been a staple on the back end for the Leafs so far this season, missing just one of the previous 50 games due to illness.

His 21 points are second among Leafs defenders, behind only Morgan Rielly, and his absence will surely be felt as he had six points in five games heading into Saturday's clash with the Oilers.

The Leafs have just three games remaining until the Four Nations break, meaning that we may not see the 33-year-old in the lineup until the NHL season resumes after the tournament.

The 2009 first-round pick joined the Leafs this past off-season on a four-year, $14M deal just days after helping the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup after stops in Arizona and Vancouver previously.