Verdict on Michael Bunting’s return in limbo per head coach Keefe

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Michael Bunting is eligible to return from his three-game suspension on Thursday and fans still don’t know if he will be slotted back into the lineup for pivotal Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning after his three-game suspension is served.

“It’s not as easy or as simple a decision as it may have been earlier in the series,” said Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe about slotting Bunting back in on Tuesday.

“We will take our time and sort through it. We have a group of guys who have played real hard.”

The call will be made by Keefe, who knows Bunting professionally better than anyone else. He has coached him for two years both in Toronto and during their junior days with the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. But based on the head coach’s comments, Bunting may remain out of the lineup until an issue comes up with the current group that has won three consecutive games against the Lightning and could reach the second round of the postseason for the first time since 2004 on Thursday.

I am not debating whether or not Bunting is a good hockey player : he is an affordable 20-goal guy who brings a lot of physicality to the Maple Leafs, an element that was missed in the three games Bunting was banned. But as Mike Stephens of The Hockey News puts it: “it would have almost been preferable from Toronto’s point of view for their winger to have earned a four-game sentence and spared them from the situation they are currently in.”

Because Keefe made it clear : rookie Matthew Knies isn’t going anywhere. And so if Bunting returns, who comes out?
The Maple Leafs return for practice today ahead of Thursday’s Game 5 at Scotiabank Arena and the lineup projection will certainly give us the answer on whether or not Bunting draws back in…

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