The worst is confirmed in Toronto

The nightmare that took place during Monday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes has just gotten worse for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Defenseman Jake Muzzin left the contest with an upper-body injury after a collision with Clayton Keller in the second period and his history with head injuries and concussions had fans and the team on edge.

On Wednesday, the Maple Leafs finally confirmed the worse: Muzzin has been placed on injured reserve. The team also recalled D Filip Král from the Marlies in the AHL.

The feeling is that is Muzzin sustained yet another concussion, there would be no definitive timeline for his return.

Last season, the veteran defenseman was limited to just 47 games with the Leafs last year due to injuries that included two concussion diagnoses. He posted three goals and 11 assists in 2021-22. He had one point through three games this season entering Monday.

While this is terrible news for the Maple Leafs who struggle on the back end and have also lost goalie Matt Murray in the first week of action, what’s more troubling is Muzzin’s history of concussions.

Also per Cap Friendly, the Maple Leafs are now down to only $680k in LTIR cap space after recalling Král and placing Muzzin on IR.

This is bad news all around…