Maple Leafs' Brandon Carlo set to return after long injury layoff

The Toronto Maple Leafs will reinstate defenseman Brandon Carlo from injured reserve ahead of Tuesday night’s game against the Panthers, head coach Craig Berube told reporters, via David Alter of The Hockey News. Toronto will need to make a corresponding move, but with fellow rearguard Jake McCabe injured and likely to miss a week with a lower-body injury, he’ll likely take Carlo’s IR spot.

The Leafs have been without Carlo for the majority of the season. Back on Nov. 13 against the Kings, he blocked a shot with his foot that knocked him out of the lineup. He was initially listed as day-to-day but sustained a setback in early December that resulted in surgery. He was expected back sometime in mid-January, so today’s activation comes ahead of schedule.

On Monday, Berube clarified that Carlo’s setback was an infection in his ankle that had impacted initial recovery, per Anna Dua of Sportsnet. That stemmed from a left ankle fracture he had with the Bruins in 2018, so his recent procedure also addressed that clean-up.

While he’s been gone, the club has gained some ground in the Eastern Conference playoff race, but not much. They’re 11-7-5 in 23 games without him after starting 8-8-2. They’re only four points out of a spot, but their 19-15-7 record on the whole is still third-worst in the conference amid a tightly packed picture.

With other injuries continuing to mount on Toronto’s blue line, the importance of Carlo’s return can’t be overstated. The big shutdown D wasn’t off to the best start, only controlling 42.8% of shot attempts at five-on-five with two assists through 18 games, but he’s a big part of the Leafs’ penalty kill and averages 20 minutes per game. With the Leafs’ top shutdown pair of McCabe and Chris Tanev out of the lineup, Carlo returning to be a stabilizing factor alongside Morgan Rielly will help them avoid overtaxing overutilized depth options like Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers.