Leafs practice notes: Craig Berube expects Jake McCabe to miss a week with lower-body injury

While it’s unclear what exactly happened to McCabe that caused him to exit the game, he was having trouble putting weight on his leg and required assistance from teammates to get off the ice. In an indirect corresponding move, the Maple Leafs placed forward William Nylander on injured reserve retroactive to December 27 and recalled defenceman Marshall Rifai from the American Hockey League.

Berube also offered some clarification on defenceman Chris Tanev, whom is reportedly considering surgery that would keep him out until the end of the season, at minimum. While the decision hasn’t been formally made yet, Berube said that it’s unrelated to his previous injury, which kept him out from November 1 until Christmas.

It would also appear that defenceman Brandon Carlo, who has been injured since November 13, is a possibility to return on Tuesday night when the Leafs host the Florida Panthers. Meanwhile, Anthony Stolarz is skating by himself but remains out indefinitely, and Dakota Mermis, who hasn’t started skating yet, is also out indefinitely.

Elsewhere in the Leafs lineup, no changes were made outside of Carlo skating in a regular role alongside Morgan Rielly on the top pair. The top six remains intact, and Philippe Myers is the lone replacement, seemingly coming in to replace Matt Benning, who made his debut with the Leafs on Saturday against the Islanders.

The Maple Leafs will look to keep the positive momentum on Tuesday night going against a Panthers team that they got the better of back in December, but will likely have some more healthy bodies this time around. They will close out the week by visiting the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday and hosting the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.