With the Stanley Cup playoffs just around the corner, the Toronto Maple Leafs are about to get some reinforcements where they need it the most.
Defenceman Travis Dermott, who hasn’t played since suffering a shoulder injury versus Edmonton on Feb. 27, is getting ready to return to the Leafs lineup as early as Saturday night’s game in Ottawa.
Fellow blueliner Jake Gardiner’s return date from the injured list is a little murkier, but he did practise in a non-contact jersey on Thursday. It was his first time on the ice with his teammates since he hurt his back in a game on Feb. 25 against Buffalo.
Without Dermott, 22, and Gardiner, 28, Leafs head coach Mike Babcock has shuffled Martin Marincin, Justin Holl and Igor Ozhiganov in and out of the lineup with varying degrees of success.
Toronto is 7-4-3 without Gardiner and Dermott both in the lineup, including a less-than-inspiring 2-2-2 record in their last six contests as they gear up for a second consecutive opening-round playoff series against Boston.
Wendel Clark delights fans at outdoor rink in Havelock
While Dermott and Gardiner are not the second coming of Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey, both are elite skating defencemen whose strength is getting the puck up the ice to Toronto’s crop of skilled forwards.
Re-inserting both in the lineup will eliminate the drop-off in talent between the first two defensive pairings and the third and should translate into more offensive pressure at Toronto’s opponent’s end — thus lessening the amount of time the Leafs play in their own zone. At least, that’s the theory, although it hasn’t always worked.
If anything, welcoming two defencemen of Gardiner and Dermott’s calibre back on the ice will provide the Maple Leafs with the psychological lift they will need to compete with the talented Bruins.