Mitch Marner's Absence at Practice Raises Interesting Question for Maple Leafs About Max Domi

After a thrilling win in Edmonton, the Toronto Maple Leafs' road trip continues with a pit stop in Calgary tomorrow to face off against the surging Flames.

Today's practice session brought about a few changes with Oliver Ekman-Larsson missing due to a lower body injury and the unexpected absence of Mitch Marner on the top line.

Head coach Craig Berube reiterated that Marner's absence was purely for maintenance purposes, but an interesting question does come about as to who might be the healthy scratch for tomorrow's contest.

Max Domi was the placeholder for Marner on the top line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. The veteran forward was centering the third line on Saturday night with Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson, so replacing Marner in practice could be a sign of an upcoming healthy scratch.

Pontus Holmberg was on the left wing of the fourth line against Edmonton with David Kampf down the middle and Steven Lorentz opposite him. With the Swede now centering the third line with Robertson and McMann at practice, that could be a telling sign that Domi has lost favour with Berube.

It shouldn't be all too surprising, with Domi having just 3 goals and 19 points in 44 games this season while averaging 14:42 TOI. He has no goals over his last 19 games and just 8 assists, with a minus-6 rating, 13 PIMs, and 29 shots on goal.

Berube has been on record this season imploring that Domi should shoot the puck more, but it doesn't seem like the message has sunk in. The 29-year-old has just 63 shots on goal this season, which is a paltry 1.43 shots per game.

Holmberg could also be in a similar spot as he saw just 9:41 TOI against the Oilers, coming off the heels of a season-high 19:31 the game before against Minnesota. His ice-time has been all over the map this season but having nearly 10 minutes of ice-time slashed in a close game is something to look into.

Placeholders are generally scratched for upcoming games so it will be interesting to see which forward comes out of the lineup against the Flames.

Secondary scoring continues to be a problem and players like Domi are not helping with that equation. This could be exactly what the veteran needs to get back on track as the Maple Leafs desperately need him to pick up his offensive game.