Sheldon Keefe provides crucial Leafs health updates

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be back in action tomorrow night against the division rival Ottawa Senators, and ahead of the matchup, head coach Sheldon Keefe is offering some clarification on the health of a handful of his players.

To start with, goaltender Ilya Samsonov departed practice this morning just minutes after having stepped onto the ice, as he was ailing from a reported illness. According to Keefe, the hope is that he'll be able to work himself back up to full strength after the sickness "beat him up pretty good".

 "Sammy was feeling better today in order to get on the ice," Keefe said. "This illness has beat him up pretty good, so he wasn’t going to work through the whole day. The hope is that we can build him up one day at a time now."

"That is the hope, yeah," Keefe continued when asked if Samsonov is trending to play tomorrow. "We have to build him up and see how he gets through the day tomorrow."

"I am not concerned about it because of how Joseph (Woll) has played, but also, Sammy has put in good work with Curtis Sanford on his game," he said. "My concern at this point is less that he hasn’t played and more that he hasn’t been on the ice because of the illness that has come up and beaten him up pretty good. We have to be smart with how we build him back up to the point where he is ready to play."

Additionally, defenseman Timothy Liljegren continues to progress the right way after having been out of game action since early November thanks to a dirty play from Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand at TD Garden. 

"Liljegren is progressing very well," Keefe said. "There is no timeline at this point that I have been made aware of. We just continue to ramp him up a day at a time. He has had no setbacks. He is feeling good and strong every day." 

However, as far as defenseman John Klingberg is concerned, there isn't much of an update to be provided.

"I have nothing for you on Klingberg at this point," Keefe said.

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