Getty John Tavares, William Nylander, and Mitchell Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs
After missing a few games of late, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be able to deploy forward Mitch Marner on Saturday after he joined the team for a Friday, April 5 practice, per NHL.com.
Marner hit the ice on Friday and was a full participant for the first time since he was placed on Long Term Injury Reserve on March 30 in a move retroactive to March 7, as the Leafs announced at the time.
The forward, who was nursing a high ankle sprain and has not played a game since March 7, is expected to play on Saturday, April 6, in a matchup against the Montreal Canadiens.
“I just want to get back, get back in the rhythm of things and try to contribute to help our team win games,” Marner told reporters after the Leafs’ practice on Friday, April 5.
Before suffering the lower-body injury, Marner was on pace to score 100 points in 2024. Fellow Leafs forwards Auston Matthews and William Nylander are approaching that mark with 99 and 95 points respectively through games played before this weekend.
Where Will Mitch Marner Play Once He Returns to Maple Leafs Lineup?
Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun shared the forward lines used by Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe on April 5, which featured Marner in the second line instead of the first one, where he played before going down injured a month ago.
#Leafs practice lines:
Bertuzzi-Matthews-Domi
McMann-Tavares-Marner
Knies-Holmberg-Nylander
Dewar-Kampf-Reaves
Rielly-Lyubushkin
Benoit-McCabe
Giordano-Brodie
Samsonov
Woll
Jones
Murray
This move could benefit the Leafs even if it separates Marner from Mathews atop the team’s pecking order on the forward front.
By moving Marner to the second line, coach Keefe will be able to have one of Matthews, Marner, and Nylander on the ice at virtually every moment of the game as they won’t feature on the same five-on-five lines.
With seven games left in the Leafs’ schedule, there is enough time for the team to test this new organization and see whether or not it works heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in two weeks.
Experiments, however, might end quickly if things go as they did before Marner suffered his injury. The Leafs had a super-powered forward line in the Matthews-Marner-Matthew Knies trio for the larger part of the season (on even-strength play) logging 403:58 minutes of playing time and outscoring opponents by 12 goals in that time.
No other lineup used by the Leafs this season at even strength has yielded a plus/minus above 3, for context, according to Dobber Hockey.
John Tavares Set to Share the Ice With Mitch Marner
If Keefe sticks to his practice lines, Marner will join veteran forward John Tavares on the ice for most of the time he’s used during the Leafs game on Saturday against the Canadiens.
Marner enters the game with 25 goals and 51 assists while Tavares has 24 goals and 59 points this season.
Tavares has been in the middle of some drama of late, as coach Keefe criticized his players and notably pointed out Tavares’ performance in a loss to the New Jersey Devils on March 26.
“John Tavares has been the example for us—he’s been outstanding for us for a long period of time,” Keefe told reporters after the game, as documented by Heavy on March 27. “He himself got carried away tonight. That’s our captain, so if that’s going to happen… well, the rest of our bench is just making it up as we go.”
Tavares is playing in the second-to-last season of a seven-year, $77 million deal signed ahead of the 2019 season. He’s posting his lowest points-per-60-minute average (2.7) since he averaged 2.5 in 2017 while still playing for the New York Islanders.