Maple Leafs Lose Two Players

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Mitch Marner and Pierre Engvall, as the two wingers have entered COVID-19 protocol.

This certainly is a bad time for the Leafs to lose two more of their players. On Saturday night, they are scheduled to play the red hot Colorado Avalanche on the road. They then follow that up on January 11th when they take on the Vegas Golden Knights. These are two extremely tough opponents to go up against. That's even more of the case without Marner. 

Speaking of Marner,  let's take a look at how he's performing this season. In 26 games thus far, he has six goals and 21 total points. Although that certainly is still very solid production, it's noticeably lower than what fans have expected from him over the years. Keep in mind, he just recorded 67 points in 55 games last season. Yet, even though he's having a slow start for his standards, that kind of offensive production will be missed when he's out. 

Engvall, on the other hand, has had another decent season for a bottom-six forward. In 32 games, he has four goals and six assists. The Leafs should not have too much trouble replacing him in the lineup while he's out, but they still would much rather have him as an option than not. 

Photo Credit: © Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports