Never in recent history has the Toronto Maple Leafs' roster had such depth in every position. Of course, the Leafs are bereft of elite talent of a Crosby or Stamkos, but even with four centers on the shelf with injury the Leafs never missed a beat, defeating a solid Red Wings team in the second-to-last preseason game.
With Matthew Lombardi perhaps ready to return from concussion injury, Tyler Bozak and Tim Connolly day-to-day and Nazem Kadri out two to four weeks with a knee sprain, Philippe Dupuis stepped in on the Kessel line and performed well in last night's victory. Because of this rash of injuries, Mike Zigomanis was recalled from the Marlies to perform fourth-line duties.
Last year, not to mention other Leafs incarnations since Burke has taken the helm in Toronto, would have been completely decimated by such a rash of injuries, especially at center ice where the Leafs in desperation used young Bozak to center the Kessel line last year.
One year ago, everyone—and I mean everyone—was calling to dump Grabovski in any possible trade scenario. Now, the landscape is completely different and Grabovski is being counted on to improve h ...
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Article written by Mark Gregory
Depth of the 2011-2012 Toronto Maple Leafs: The Key to the Postseason
October 1st, 2011 by Mark Gregory Leave a reply »
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