Toronto Maple Leafs’ Bobby McMann ‘will miss some time’ with knee injury
Just as Bobby McMann was getting a look as a top-nine NHL forward, his momentum has been halted. Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters Wednesday that McMann “will miss some time” with a knee injury. McMann was hurt in Tuesday’s ugly 7-2 road loss to the New York Islanders. As Keefe explained, McMann aggravated a previous injury he sustained earlier this season in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies. He added that the Leafs “don’t know the extent of it yet but he’s going to head back to Toronto and won’t be available the rest of the trip.”
McMann, 26, had spent the last two games in the Leafs’ lineup, his second call-up with the team this season, and was suiting up on Toronto’s third line Tuesday alongside Sam Lafferty and William Nylander. McMann picked up an assist, his first NHL point, on Lafferty’s first-period goal. McMann had gone pointless in his first nine NHL games before that but had shown some plausible scoring upside in the AHL over the past couple seasons. He had 24 goals in 61 games for the Marlies last season and almost doubled his scoring rate with them in 2022-23, burying 21 goals in just 30 games.
It remains to be seen if the Leafs will again pivot to an 11-forward, seven-defenseman lineup with their forward depth being tested. Ryan O’Reilly remains out with a broken finger, while Nick Robertson was lost earlier this season to season-ending shoulder surgery.
The Leafs continue to sit comfortably in a playoff position, holding a 42-19-9 record, good for a three-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning for second in the Atlantic Division with two games in hand to boot. But the Leafs’ efforts have been labored since overhauling a third of their roster approaching the Trade Deadline. Since March 1, they’ve gone 5-4-1 and hold a hideous 41.78 percent expected goals share at 5-on-5, 29th-best in the NHL.