Victor Mete Injured During Maple Leafs Morning Skate Ahead of Game Against Red Wings

William Villeneuve, who was listed on Toronto’s lineup when the team released their roster for Friday’s game yesterday, would presumably slot in to take Mete’s place.

Mete signed a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Maple Leafs this summer. His status will be updated later in the day. But should the ailment be significant, it’ll continue to test Toronto’s blue line depth that has has been beset by a rash of injuries.

Timothy Liljegren (hernia) is expected to be out until mid-November, although he continues to skate with conditioning staff. Carl Dahlstrom is out six month with a shoulder injury and Jordie Benn hasn’t skated since suffering a groin injury during training camp.

Veteran defenseman Jake Muzzin, who has been practicing for about a week since having back issues, has yet to slot into a pre-season game.

“I feel bad because when you’re practicing you obviously don’t want to injure anyone,” Robertson said. “But when you practice you want to like you are practicing at 100 per cent. You’ve got to find a fine line between picking and choosing your spots.”

Shortly after the injury occurred, John Tavares — currently recovering from an oblique injury — took over for Mete on some defensive reps as the morning skate concluded.

Tavares was a surprise extra participant for the team’s morning skate. He continued to skate with other injured players as the other group of Maple Leafs continued on with practice.

More to come…