Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube provided a post-game update on defenseman Jake McCabe, who was forced out of last night’s game with an undisclosed injury.

The Toronto Maple Leafs ended up losing more than just one point last night on Long Island after defenseman Jake McCabe was forced out of the contest due to an undisclosed injury. The veteran defenseman went to the locker room in the third period and was unable to return.

After the game, head coach Craig Berube offered an update on McCabe’s status, but wasn’t able to provide too many details, considering the timing of the injury. He did mention that he’d be evaluated on Sunday, and the hope is that it’s not too serious, but that he wasn’t sure at that moment.

The Maple Leafs have been dealing with injuries on the back-end all season long and have essentially played without Brandon Carlo and Chris Tanev for the majority of the year. They’ve been able to stay afloat because of players like McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson always being available, so it’s certainly a cause for concern that he was unable to finish last night’s game.

The 32-year-old defenseman has suited up in all 41 games this year and has produced 3 goals and 16 points with a plus-26 rating, 25 PIMs, 104 blocked shots, and 58 hits across 22 minutes a night. He ranks top-10 league-wide in plus-minus, which is rather remarkable for a team whose goal differential is minus-1.

If he is forced to miss time, the Leafs would more than likely rotate the inconsistent Philippe Myers back into the lineup and call up Henry Thrun from the Toronto Marlies for depth purposes. They don’t play again until Tuesday night when they host the Florida Panthers, so the extra day of rest in between games could be a benefit for the veteran.

McCabe is an integral part of the team’s back-end and improved penalty kill so a lot of focus will be geared towards his level of practice participation in the next coming days. With games against Florida, Philadelphia, and Vancouver next week, the Leafs will be crossing their fingers that they won’t be without another top-4 defensemen during an important stretch of their season.

Previously on Toronto Hockey Daily

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