Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly will miss a minimum of eight weeks after sustaining a fractured foot Sunday against the Florida Panthers, the team announced Monday.
He briefly left Sunday's game in the first period after blocking an Aleksander Barkov shot, but returned to the ice and went on to play more than 21 minutes in the club's 8-4 loss.
Rielly leads all Toronto defensemen in points (27), shots (122), and average ice time (24:15). He finished fifth in Norris Trophy voting last season after racking up a career-high 20 goals and 72 points. The 25-year-old had been on pace to fall well short of those totals this season, but he admitted last week that he'd been playing through an undisclosed injury.
The Leafs are also without fellow defender Jake Muzzin due to a broken foot. He was listed as week-to-week on Dec. 28 and it's unclear when he'll return to the lineup.
With their top two minutes leaders sidelined, the Leafs recalled top prospect Rasmus Sandin from the AHL's Toronto Marlies earlier Monday. Barring any other moves, Toronto's blue line projects to look something like this:
| LD | RD |
|---|---|
| Travis Dermott | Justin Holl |
| Rasmus Sandin | Tyson Barrie |
| Martin Marincin | Cody Ceci |
The Leafs will be back in action on Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils.
