Daily Faceoff Show: Muzzin’s injury could provide opening for Leafs at deadline

As if the Toronto Maple Leafs losing 5-2 to the Montreal Canadiens wasn’t bad enough, the game also saw defenseman Jake Muzzin get taken out of a game due to an accidental collision with Chris Wideman.

It looked to be another concussion for Muzzin, who just came back from one a couple weeks ago, so it probably won’t be good news as to how long he will be out for.

It’s also going to affect the Leafs trade deadline plans, as Frank Seravalli and Mike McKenna discussed on today’s Daily Faceoff Show.

Frank Seravalli: “Another facet of the Montreal Canadiens big win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night was Jake Muzzin and his injury. Just an unfortunate collision, clearly two players that didn’t see each other, and a scary sight for Jake Muzzin.

“This is a guy who was just really coming off a concussion. He came back to the lineup on February 10th after missing nearly a month, out since January 15th after a hit against the St. Louis Blues. He talked about his lack of confidence, or I guess I should say, an introduction of some hesitancy in his game after the concussion. Now he’s back, his play was a little bit shaky, now goes down, remained in Montreal, did not travel with the team to the U.S. as they continue their road trip, and is going to remain under observation.

Wideman and Muzzin collide inadvertently and Muzzin stays down after his head hits the ice. pic.twitter.com/3WXAhIJCdD

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) February 22, 2022

“So, clearly some concern for Jake Muzzin and his health, but I think big picture for the Toronto Maple Leafs, the fact that Jake Muzzin was already struggling with his play, and now goes down again with another unpredictable head injury. We were just talking about the Leafs, and their deadline plans, and how they may have already addressed that with Ilya Lyubushkin. Do you feel like they need to go out and get more now?”

Mike McKenna: “I can’t help but think that Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t done looking for even more depth on the back end right now because this team in Toronto did not look the same when Jake Muzzin was out earlier this year. When you combine that with Holl being out for the short timeframe, they were a mess defensively.

And that’s where they really need to have Muzzin in the lineup. First and foremost, you worry about his health, as a human being and as a person. Concussions are no joke, any head injury, and especially in a short time frame, really just hoping that things go well for him. But yes, big picture here, the Leafs are going to need some help, because you look at Liljegren and Sandin and Dermott. These are not your shutdown defenders in the NHL that are really going to play those hard minutes in front of the net. And we’ve seen what the Leafs look like without Muzzin previously.

This is a team that is looking to play better defensively, they’re looking for saves. They didn’t get many from Mrazek last night, Campbell has had to do everything, they need an insulation blanket. I can’t help but keep thinking that that forbidden door with the Montreal Canadiens might be wide open, and Dubas is burning up phone lines for Chiarot. I just think that that would be such a good fit, but it’s almost too obvious.

Could you actually see something like that happen? Do you think they’re looking for depth still?”

Frank Seravalli: “I do. I think it was a consideration even with the trade for Lyubushkin, it sort of opened up the flexibility. Kyle Dubas talked about the number of bullets he had, they didn’t really use any in trading for Lyubushkin. Now, if Muzzin is indeed out, and no one’s hoping that he is, they will have some salary cap flexibility. $5.625 million is Muzzin’s cap hit. They could potentially, if he misses a significant chunk of time, move him to LTIR, and gain the flexibility to then go bring in a player, the flexibility that they otherwise would not have had.

So this does open up some doors, I do think the Montreal Canadiens have been in direct conversation about Ben Chiarot with the Toronto Maple Leafs over the last 48-72 hours pre-Muzzin injury, I just don’t know that the Leafs are willing to pay that price.”

You can listen to the full episode here.