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The Toronto Maple Leafs were successful in navigating their defensive shortcomings in the wake of Morgan Rielly’s five-game suspension with the last change at home, as the club swept the three games at Scotiabank Arena against St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Anaheim, but their blueline issues will be difficult to work around in their rematch against the Blues in a President’s Day afternoon matinee on Monday.
The only downside to the Leafs 9-2 win over the Ducks on Saturday night was an injury early in the first period to defenseman William Lagesson. Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated after the victory that Lagesson would miss some time, which has Toronto dipping into their reserves even further.
Conor Timmins is out indefinitely with mononucleosis, Rielly has two more games to serve unless the appeal of his suspension is successful(don’t hold your breath), and veteran Mark Giordano is on bereavement leave after the death of his father.
The Leafs have recalled 25-year-old Marshall Rifai from the AHL Marlies and he is expected to make his NHL debut playing alongside Maxime Lajoie on the bottom pairing on Monday. Rifai played three years at Harvard University before being signed to an AHL deal in 2022. After a successful season with the Marlies where he scored 16 points and compiled 118 penalty minutes, Toronto signed him to a two-year NHL deal.
Keefe indicated on Sunday that Rifai skates extremely well has the physicality and competitiveness conducive to play in the NHL. It has been clear that the Leafs have done their utmost to shield their young defensive prospects in Topi Niemela and William Villeneuve from being exposed to the NHL before they are ready, but the Leafs depth issues on the blueline have been revealed with the suspension to Rielly and the other assorted absences.
While not advocating GM Brad Treliving trading draft capital for rental defense help, moving a low-to-mid round pick for a blueliner like Joel Edmundson or Ilya Lyubushkin is something that he will have to do at a minimum to give the club a chance at advancing past the first round.
Ilya Samsonov is expected to get the start for Toronto on Monday, and center John Tavares is likely to play after missing Saturday’s win with a minor injury.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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