Besides a new goaltending tandem of Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t see much change during the off-season. The Maple Leafs entered the season with hopes of making a deep playoff run. However, the team has struggled with a 2-2 record to start.
The Maple Leafs lost their most recent game to the Arizona Coyotes by a score of 4-2. They will now be without Jake Muzzin, who was injured during the game, for an unknown period of time.
Toronto Maple Leafs Veteran Placed on Injured Reserve
Jake Muzzin Injured Against Arizona
The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that defenceman Jake Muzzin has been placed on the IR with a neck injury.
The @MapleLeafs have recalled D Filip Král from the @TorontoMarlies.
D Jake Muzzin has been placed on injured reserve.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) October 19, 2022
Muzzin suffered the injury in the second period after a collision with Clayton Keller. The collision took place in the Toronto zone, and Muzzin was very slow to get up. He went for a skate during a commercial break, ultimately heading straight for the locker room.
Muzzin logged 9:54 of ice time in the contest and registered one shot. He would not return to the game.
Muzzin is entering his 11th NHL season. He has played for the Los Angeles Kings and Toronto Maple Leafs. In 683 career games, he has 69 goals and 225 assists for 294 points. Muzzin has played a key role in shooting from high-danger areas for the Maple Leafs.
According to Corey Sznajder’s All Three Zones micro-stats, Muzzin was 1.21 standard deviations above the league average for shots off high-danger passes per 60 in 2020-21. He repeated this in 2021-22, 1.33 standard deviations above the mean in this category.
What This Means for the Future
Despite the Maple Leafs losing Timothy Liljegren, Jordie Benn, Carl Dahlstrom, and now Muzzin on the backend, the defensive core still looks promising. The young, mobile Swedish defenceman Rasmus Sandin will fill the shoes alongside Muzzin’s usual partner, Justin Holl, on the second pairing.
Victor Mete will play his first regular season game in a Maple Leafs uniform at home against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. He will be playing with 39-year-old Mark Giordano on the third pairing. Toronto will look to rebound after a mediocre start to the season.
Maple Leafs defenceman Jake Muzzin to miss at least three games with neck injury https://t.co/MZ7aGFb7Vw pic.twitter.com/nGKt9fYRMt
— Globe Sports (@Globe_Sports) October 19, 2022
