Kampf left Wednesday's game with an upper-body injury, while McCabe's ailment is undisclosed.
Feb 28, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) celebrates with defenseman Jake McCabe (22) and center David Kampf (64) after defeating the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without David Kampf and Jake McCabe, at least for the short term.
Kampf left Wednesday's win over the Florida Panthers in the second period with an upper-body injury. He was not on the ice for the team's practice on Friday, ahead of their matchup against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday.
Neither was McCabe, who went to Toronto's dressing room with 1:10 left in the game after going into the boards awkwardly after being hit by Carter Verhaeghe. The defenseman also collided with a linesman after Matthew Knies' goal.
"I'm not sure when it happened, to be honest," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said when asked when McCabe suffered the injury. "I really don't know."
McCabe has been one of Toronto's most important defensemen this season. He's played most of the year alongside Chris Tanev as the team's shutdown pairing. McCabe plays in important situations, is vocal on the bench and in the locker room, and delivers physicality.
"I think he does a lot of things for us in terms of a shutdown defenseman with Tanev. Just his defensive play, his physical play, leadership. I mean, he brings a lot, penalty kill," Berube said.
"It's hard to sit here and say, 'Oh, we can replace him.' It's pretty tough. But (Philippe) Myers will go in tomorrow, and we just gotta step up with him out."
Oliver Ekman-Larsson was skating alongside Tanev at practice on Friday and will play beside him against the Blue Jackets. As Berube mentioned, Myers will draw into the lineup on the third pairing with Simon Benoit.
"I think (Myers) simple, plays aggressive, big, kills plays. He's physical back there, and and just, make the simple play with the puck and be good at your net front and penalty kill," Berube said.
"That's really his role, right? He's done a good job for us this year when he's played, when he had to be in there. I don't think anything changes with that."
Kampf has scored five goals and eight assists through 59 games this season, playing on Toronto's fourth line. McCabe has two goals and 21 assists, a career-high through 66 games this year. He also averages the most ice time of any Maple Leaf (21:31).
When they could return, though, remains up in the air. Although Berube mentioned that their status is day-to-day, his comments following that were quite telling.
"I can't really comment on that too much about how long it's going to be."
