RALEIGH, N.C. — Erik Gustafsson has departed the team’s road trip to tend to a “personal situation”.
"We'll just give him the time he needs to until he can get that sorted out with his family."
The 30-year-old defenseman was acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this month along with the Boston Bruins' first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft in exchange for 22-year-old defenseman Rasmus Sandin. A pending unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, his wife and three children stayed back in Washington while the defenseman got an apartment in Toronto to finish out the year.
Gustafsson logged 17:28 of ice time in a 6-2 win against the Florida Panthers on Thursday including 4:14 of power play. He saw a lot of time on the team's top special teams unit as the club elected to rest defenseman Morgan Rielly.
Rielly will come back into the lineup against the Hurricanes on Saturday. The club held an optional skate, so it's not immediately known what the defense will look like in terms of pairings. But the Leafs will dress seven defensemen once again as Wayne Simmonds, the 12th healthy forward on the roster, stayed out on the ice late for extra work.
Forward Bobby McMann remains out with a knee injuy
In eight games with the Maple Leafs, Gustafsson has registered one assist.
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