The Toronto Maple Leafs could have a new look on defense when they host the New York Rangers at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
During the club's first full practice in 12 days, Timothy Liljegren moved to the second pair to skate on the right side of Jake McCabe, just one game removed from his return from a high-ankle sprain injury that forced him out of the lineup for six weeks.
TJ Brodie missed Toronto's 7-0 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. He was back on the ice before the team's practice session working on defensive drills before departing the ice after the main session began.
"This morning was his first meal in a couple of days," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "He felt good enough to get out there, we just didn't want to stress it too much today.
"We'll just continue to monitor him and have him build himself up over the course of the day and see where he's at tomorrow."
Simon Benoit skated in Brodie's spot on the right side of Morgan Rielly. Keefe said it's not in the cards for the defenseman to skate in that spot as he was merely placeholding.
If Brodie is unavailable, the Maple Leafs would likely revert back to the defensive pairs that worked effectively in their game on Saturday.
Saturday's game marked the first time since Liljegren went down on Nov. 2 that Toronto has two right-handed defensemen in the lineup. McCabe has seen a majority of the time shifting over to the right side during Liljegren's absence.
The Maple Leafs have been battling with a flu bug since the beginning of December that has forced Brodie, Ilya Samsonov, William Lagesson and Auston Matthews to at least miss one game.
Keefe is hopeful they are past it.
"No new cases in the last couple of days of guys coming down with the same symptoms or issues," Keefe said.
Brodie has six assists in 27 games this season and has averaged 22:15 of ice time per game.
Matthews got through the whole practice session on Monday and is expected to be in the lineup on Tuesday. He occupied his regular spot at practice alongside Matthew Knies and William Nylander.
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