Maple Leafs provide crucial update on Rasmus Sandin

The Toronto Maple Leafs are 1-1 in their past pair of games, having lost to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks at home but rebounding for a nice victory over the Buffalo Sabres thanks to a hat trick from newcomer Ryan O'Reilly who was just acquired earlier this month in a blockbuster deal with the St. Louis Blues. 

However, they've been without the services of defenseman Rasmus Sandin during that time, having suffered an undisclosed injury. During their recent practice session in Buffalo, he was spotted with what was described as a "heavily bandaged" shoulder. 

And according to head coach Sheldon Keefe, the Leafs may plan on keeping him out at least one more game.

 "At this point, it's probably looking more like a day or two could really benefit him," Keefe said of Sandin. "I think he's not far away, he was really close today but we may take a little more of a cautious approach with him, but we'll see because he's at the point now where he's improving dramatically every day, but the strength is not quite here they need it to be."

"It's starting to feel a lot better," Sandin said of his injury setback. "At the same time, we've got guys that haven't played in a bit too and they kind of wanted to get them in and give me an extra couple of days to recover."

In 51 games played this season for the Leafs, Sandin has lit the lamp four times while adding 15 assists. He's also in the first year of a two-year contract he inked this past summer. 

The Leafs are next in action tomorrow night at home against the visiting Seattle Kraken, who are challenging for a postseason berth in just their second season of existence. Game time is set for 7:00 PM EST from Scotiabank Arena.