The Toronto Maple Leafs’ depth was tested yet again on Wednesday night in a 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, the first of a two-game road trip. Forward Bobby McMann exited late in the second period with a lower-body injury, and the team announced he wouldn’t return.
"It's day-to-day right now," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said post-game. "We'll have to see tomorrow how he is, but wasn't able to continue to play tonight."
McMann’s absence adds to the Maple Leafs’ growing list of injured forwards, seven to be exact, leaving the team scrambling to adjust. Despite the challenge, Berube expressed cautious optimism about reinforcements on the horizon.
“Well, it's frustrating. But, hopefully, we get some guys coming back here next game,” said Berube. “For the game tonight, we've got to be sharper. And, you know, some of the penalties, we don't need to take the penalties. I think in the third period, we're trying to come back. We take six minutes of penalties in the third. That's difficult. Makes it difficult.”
The frustration was not only felt in the presence of his head coach but also shared by his teammates, who recognized the growing strain on the team’s depth that only continues to expand.
“It's tough, yeah,” said Steven Lorentz. “I mean, we got some offensive firepower out of the lineup right now. It's just an opportunity for the guys to step up, and no one feels bad for us. It's tough, and when guys go down, with that being said, with the Leafs, everywhere we go, we're going to have the team's best to play against.
“So, yeah, like I said, it's just a chance for guys to step up. It's too bad to see Bobby go down like that. He's playing well.”
As Lorentz said, McMann has been a strong asset upfront in the absence of six other forwards in the lineup. At five-on-five, as Mitch Marner points out, McMann has been effective when playing to his strengths – speed and generating chances up the ice.
“Yeah, it's tough. Another guy who's done a lot for this team recently, 5-on-5 too, with his speed and play up the ice. So, never good to see another guy go down.”
Collectively, the team struggled to produce offense and spark more five-on-five offense, with Marner pointing to the missing personnel as the core of the problems. He added, “We're missing half our team up front, man. You know, it's tough. We got a lot of guys coming in trying to jump up in some roles. They've done a great job.”
“I think we've done a great job keeping pucks out every night at five-on-five. But tonight, like I said, we've got to be up the ice more. We've got to be up in the forecheck more. We've got to get around the net more, and tip some more pucks for our D. I thought they did a good job getting pucks through. We just weren't there enough.”
Help is on the way?
As Berube attested to post-game, help could be on the way up front, and it couldn’t come at a better time for the injury-riddled Maple Leafs. Both Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies are nearing their returns, with Saturday’s matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning serving as a possible target date.
Matthews, sidelined since November 3 with an upper-body injury, has been skating with the team and ramping up his workload. On Wednesday, ahead of the club’s matchup with the Panthers, Matthews was a participant in the Leafs’ full skate.
“He had a real good practice yesterday. But, you know, he's been off a while. And, you know, getting into a full practice was really important,” Berube explained. “But I think both him and I and the organization feel like he needs a little bit more to be ready to go.”
For Matthews, Berube said the progression back to game action was not about pain management but regaining his stamina. Even though he is in the process of ramping back up, he would offer a boost to a depleted forward group – and there is a growing optimism he could become available as soon as Saturday.
“No, no, it's not a healing thing. He's feeling good. It's more of a stamina and getting up to speed and making sure he's ready," Berube explained. "You don't want to rush anybody. You want them to feel comfortable and make sure they're ready to go.”
“He looks great out there,” Lorentz said about Matthews at practice. “Obviously, he's got the puck, and even in practice, he's making plays. So, that would be a huge boost, obviously, but, you know, I guess we'll have to take it day by day and see what happens.”
Matthews missed his ninth-straight game on Wednesday when the Maple Leafs faced the Florida Panthers. The Maple Leafs have gone a strong 7-2-0 in his absence, losing just their second game in regulation over that span on Wednesday night.
Knies, meanwhile, skated in a red non-contact jersey on Tuesday after suffering an upper-body injury on November 20 against the Vegas Golden Knights. The 22-year-old traveled with the team to Florida and hit the ice for the second straight day on Wednesday, wearing a regular jersey at morning skate – which does not entail as much in comparison to a normal practice.
“It was great. So he's good and he's practicing. Hopefully, he keeps progressing in the right way,” Berube said after practice on Tuesday.
For a team battling a long list of injuries adding Bobby McMann to the list, the reinforcements couldn’t arrive soon enough. Not only would their services be of use physically, but as Lorentz pointed out, they could provide a much-needed morale boost against a formidable opponent in the Lightning.
The Maple Leafs now have a two-day window to rest, regroup, and prepare for Saturday’s matchup. It leaves the door open for some extra time for Matthews and Knies to potentially return, given they traveled and practiced with the team, but that remains to be seen and should become more clear in the coming days.
