The Toronto Maple Leafs forward core has been riddled with injuries throughout the last few weeks.
Auston Matthews, Max Pacioretty, David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok and Max Domi are all on injured reserve at the moment. Toronto’s situation became grimmer when Matthews Knies exited Wednesday’s 3-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights with a head injury and didn’t return.
With the injuries piling up, it remains to be seen who’ll be in the Maple Leafs’ lineup when they visit the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday.
Although the status of certain injured players is still unknown, head coach Craig Berube did provide updates on two of his sidelined forwards Friday.
According to TSN’s Mark Masters, Berube has officially declared that Knies won’t be healthy enough to face Utah this weekend. Concussions aren’t the type of injury to mess around with, meaning it’s clear that Toronto isn’t ready to put the veteran winger back into the spotlight just yet.
Craig Berube says Matthew Knies is OUT on Sunday @TSN_Edge
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 22, 2024
Shortly after ruling Knies out, Berube shared an update on Domi’s status. Although the 29-year-old center is still dealing with his lower-body issue, the Maple Leafs coach isn’t ready to rule Domi out of Sunday’s upcoming showdown just yet.
Craig Berube says Max Domi hasn’t been ruled out for Sunday yet @TSN_Edge
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) November 22, 2024
On one hand, it’s unfortunate that Berube’s updates regarding Knies and Domi weren’t more positive. While the duo isn’t as important to the Maple Leafs’ success as Matthews or William Nylander, they’ve both played big roles in the club’s early success this season.
Knies has tallied eight goals and four assists through 20 games, giving him 12 to date – good for fifth-best on the Maple Leafs. Meanwhile, Domi has six assists and a 48.0 percent faceoff success rate in his first 19 outings and was beginning to build chemistry with Knies and Nylander on the second line before disaster struck.
The good news for Domi and Knies is that the Maple Leafs are still finding success despite their injury situation. A 12-6-2 record has Berube’s club leading the Atlantic Division with 26 points and Toronto has even managed to play to a 6-1-0 record amid Matthews’ seven-game absence.
Time will tell if the Maple Leafs can maintain that success on Saturday when they host a Utah team that’s heading into Scotiabank Arena on a three-game losing streak.
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