The Toronto Maple Leafs were down two defensemen before puck drop Sunday night against the New Jersey Devils, with Morgan Rielly ruled out after leaving Saturday’s game and Chris Tanev held out for planned maintenance. That opened the door for Dakota Mermis and Cole McWard to step into the lineup.
The change mattered because Rielly had been in every game for Toronto this season before his lower-body injury, which came in the second period against the Montreal Canadiens. He had 12 assists and was averaging 19:31 on ice, making his absence more than a routine shuffle for a team that was already adjusting its defense group.
Jim Hiller said the absences ahead of Sunday’s game against the New Jersey Devils. For Tanev, the decision was not tied to a new setback. He had one assist in nine games, averaged 17:45 of ice time and had already dealt with an upper-body injury in October, and Hiller said the club is being careful with him after that issue.
That caution is what gives the move its edge. Tanev was healthy enough to be in the lineup recently, but the Maple Leafs still chose to sit him, and Hiller indicated that this could become the norm for the defenceman on back-to-back nights. McWard, meanwhile, had yet to see game action for the Maple Leafs this season, though he brought four assists and a plus-three rating in seven games with the Toronto Marlies.
For Toronto, the immediate question is not whether the injury and maintenance decisions were explained. They were. It is how long the Maple Leafs can manage without Rielly, and whether Tanev’s workload is now headed for a more limited pattern whenever the schedule tightens.
