Toronto Maple Leafs can’t let Jake Muzzin injury cast doubt

The Toronto Maple Leafs will have to figure out how to stay afloat with Jake Muzzin out for a month with a broken hand and it won’t be easy.

Seeing Jake Muzzin get injured a day after signing a four-year extension with the Toronto Maple Leafs is like seeing a scratch on a brand new car. You try your best to avoid it but there are certain things our of your control.

Obviously there is a lot of doubt being placed on the Leafs and it’s tough to argue that losing your best defenceman won’t have an impact considering how tough it was when the 31-year-old missed 10 games with a broken foot.

More from Tip of the Tower

• Cam Phillips making his mark on Toronto Argonauts offence
• Toronto Argonauts: 4 storylines ahead of matchup against Redblacks
• Federico Bernardeschi ready for new challenge with Toronto FC
• Toronto Argonauts overcome Roughriders in entertaining Touchdown Atlantic
• Buffalo Bills: Von Miller drawing inspiration from Bruce Smith

This is was already a tough stretch considering the team is missing Morgan Rielly and Cody Ceci (even if he hasn’t played well).

What this team is going to have to avoid is that defeated mindset that can happen with an injury like this. The team can’t just promote a defenceman from the Toronto Marlies who can slide into Muzzin’s role.

It’s going to take a collective effort from top to bottom especially with Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren who were going to have to step up at some point in their development. It’s just coming earlier than maybe the organization would have preferred.

"“It’s not ideal, but I mean it’s part of the gig, right?” head coach Sheldon Keefe said about the injury. “That’s the reason why you acquire depth and the reason why you develop players and the reason why you have a good and healthy minor-league system. It’s to be able to have these situations happen and then continue to press on.”"

If this injury occurred right before the trade deadline, the Leafs might have reconsidered whether to acquire a defenceman but that decision appeared to be made after Saturday’s loss.

Now, they go into Thursday’s game against the Florida Panthers with a lot on the line and being shorthanded won’t help the team’s confidence but one player can’t make or break a roster during these times.

Hopefully, that message gets reinforced and it brings this team together, otherwise, it could spell doom.

What are your thoughts on the Muzzin injury? Can the Leafs overcome it? Let us know in the comments below.