Toronto Maple Leafs Lose Four More Players

The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed Rasmus Sandin, Petr Mrazek, David Kampf and Ilya Mikheyev 

in COVID-19 protocol. With that, goaltending coach Steve Briere is joining them. 

The Maple Leafs have placed forward David Kämpf, forward Ilya Mikheyev, goaltender Petr Mrázek, defenceman Rasmus Sandin, goaltending coach Steve Briere and an additional member of the team’s medical staff into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.

— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 21, 2021

Although the Leafs are not set to play their next game until December 27th against the Columbus Blue Jackets, this growing number is certainly very concerning. Besides these four players, Jack Campbell, Travis Dermott, John Tavares, Alexander Kerfoot, Jason Spezza, Wayne Simmonds and T.J. Brodie are all in protocol, too. With that, head coach Sheldon Keefe and assistant coach Spencer Carbery are as well. Therefore, they will likely still be shorthanded by then.

Sandin is a notable loss for the Leafs on the back end, assuming they return on schedule. The 21-year-old is having a solid year, as he has recorded a career-high eight assists in 25 games. With that, he is sporting a plus-5 rating. He's emerging as a legitimate top six defenseman, so it will be nice once he returns. 

It's hard not to feel bad for Mrazek, as this is his third absence this season. The 29-year-old already has missed an extended amount of time due to two groin injuries. As a result of this, he has only played three games this campaign. In them, he has a 2-1-0 record, 4.13  GAA and .880 SV%.

Kampf has been a mainstay in the bottom six this season and ultimately is doing what was initially expected of him. In 30 games this season, he has four goals, nine points and a plus-1 rating. He's also only three points away from tying the 12 he recorded last season in 56 games with the Chicago Blackhawks. 

Mikheyev has also had a tough year, as he's missed all but one game of it due to multiple injuries. In that contest, he failed to get on the scoresheet.

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