When the Toronto Maple Leafs visit the New Jersey Devils at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday, they will undoubtedly be without Joel Edmundson, and Morgan Rielly is also likely to be out.
Both players missed the team’s whole morning skate.
“Let’s see how he is later today. “If he doesn’t go today, it will be a day-to-day situation for him,” Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said of Rielly’s status.
As for Edmundson?
“I wouldn’t expect him this week,” Keefe said, noting that both players are injured but not sick.
As a result, the Maple Leafs experimented with various new defence pairings, including struggling veteran TJ Brodie and Ilya Lyubushkin.
“We know our roles, and we have to play the same game,” Lyubushkin said about skating alongside Brodie. “Not much of a change, you know; we have to assist our team win, simple, hard, you know. “That’s it.”
Rielly has played in every game this season, with the exception of a five-game suspension for a cross-check to the face of Ottawa Senators forward Ridly Greig.
Edmundson has been an excellent addition to the Maple Leafs since being acquired from the Washington Capitals on March 7. The 6-foot-5 defender has made his physical presence felt. The most obvious example was how he put his weight around in the team’s 6-3 victory over Edmonton on Saturday.
