Leafs share some bad news on Joel Edmundson, Timothy Liljegren
Injuries have been piling up for the Toronto Maple Leafs in recent weeks and the latest player to land on the sidelines as a result of a mysterious upper-body injury is Timothy Liljegren. After not taking warmups against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, Liljegren was healthy scratched for the game, though the prevailing thought at the time was that it may have been nothing more than an illness. However, when Sheldon Keefe came out after the came and announced that Liljegren was, in fact, injured, the focus shifted immediately to how long he'd be sidelined.
On Friday, following the Leafs' practice ahead of tonight's clash with the Buffalo Sabres, Sheldon Keefe spoke with the media and gave everyone a better idea of what to expect when it comes to Liljegren's status. Unfortunately, it wasn't good news. Keefe confirmed that he expects Liljegren to be out on a week-to-week basis.
With Joel Edmundson also sidelined, with little information being made available on him, the follow-up question from the media was about how long Edmundson would be sidelined in comparison to Liljegren. Keefe also confirmed that Edmundson should follow a similar timeline to the one they're expecting for Liljegren.
It wasn't all bad news, however, as Keefe told the media that neither player was being shut down for the remainder of the season and that both are expected to return to the lineup at some point ahead of the playoffs, so it will be a good opportunity for each to get their feet wet and get back into the action before the games really begin to matter.
Edmundson and Liljegren had formed what became a really solid 3rd pairing for the Leafs following the trade with Washington, but unfortunately, the team will have to rely on the likes of Simon Benoit and Connor Timmins for much of the next couple of weeks as Edmundson and Liljegren continue to recuperate.
We're unsure of exactly what happened to cause an injury to either player, but the Leafs have been involved in some dogfights of late, so it could be an accumulation of things. Hopefully both will be back at 100% in time for the playoffs, which appears to be the case - at least at this moment.
| POLL | ||
MARS 30 | 412 ANSWERS Leafs share some bad news on Joel Edmundson, Timothy Liljegren Which Leafs defenseman do you think Toronto will miss more; Timothy Liljegren or Joel Edmundson? | ||
| Edmundson | 274 | 66.5 % |
| Liljegren | 76 | 18.4 % |
| They'll miss them both equally | 62 | 15 % |
| List of polls | ||
