Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe has confirmed that goaltender Frederik Andersen is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. James Mirtle of the Atheltic broke the news via his Twitter account on Wednesday afternoon.
Frederik Andersen is out at least seven to 10 days, Sheldon Keefe says. Including the time he’s missed so far. Calls him day-to-day.
Jack Campbell in tomorrow.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) March 24, 2021
Frederik Andersen Injury Considered Day-to-Day
Andersen has not been at practice recently as confirmed by Sportsnet reporter Chris Johnston and was not present for the Maple Leafs’ previous game on Saturday against the Calgary Flames. Therefore Keefe’s injury timeline of a week to 10 days retroactively started last weekend. As a result, Andersen will be out for up to three games; he has already missed five this season, all with a lower-body injury.
The starting goaltender last dressed for the Leafs on March 19th against the Flames, which was the first of a back-to-back. Toronto lost the game 4-3 with Andersen posting a measly .778 save percentage. In his last five games prior to the injury, Andersen has posted save percentages of well under .900 on four occasions. Overall this season he has a 13-8-2 record with a save percentage of .897. According to Money Puck, he ranks 29th in goals saved above expected (-3.3) out of 55 goaltenders to play at least 10 games this season.
What This Means Going Forward
In truth, Frederik Andersen’s injury probably makes the roster selection slightly easier for Sheldon Keefe. Andersen has been struggling all season and while there is an urgency to get him going, the Leafs might be better served playing their back-ups who have performed well so far this year.
Moving forward, the Leafs will have Jack Campbell as the starter, who has stopped 109 of 113 shots and has a perfect record in his four games this season. Backing him up is Michael Hutchinson, who has also outperformed Andersen to-date. Toronto’s third choice has a 3-2-0 record with a .922 save percentage in six games.
The Maple Leafs are currently level on points with the Edmonton Oilers at the top of the North Division but have two games in hand over them. This week they play the Ottawa Senators away on Thursday before coming home for a crucial double-header with Edmonton.
