Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs practice
Sheldon Keefe, Toronto Maple Leafs practice
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After Friday’s practice, Sheldon Keefe discussed Calle Jarnkrok’s injury status, Mitch Marner’s progress towards a return, moving Pontus Holmberg up onto Auston Matthews’ right wing, and Nick Robertson rejoining the lineup.

Practice Lines – Mar. 15

Is Calle Jarnkrok an option to play tomorrow?

Keefe: No, he is not an option to play. He has a hand injury, so he is week to week.

TSN is reporting that Mitch Marner suffered a mild high-ankle sprain. That would be the third Leaf to suffer one this season.

Keefe: It is hockey. It is a sport where these things occur.

Has he been able to skate on the injury, though? Is he still listed as day-to-day?

Keefe: Yeah. He skated today, and he skated yesterday.

I would say it is more than (day-to-day) at this point. He won’t skate tomorrow. We will then have a day off. It gives a couple of days for it to settle. We will start to ramp him back up for next week.

Is it just a maintenance day for Ilya Lyubushkin?

Keefe: It is just a maintenance day for Boosh. He took some hits yesterday. Things tightened up on him today, so he wasn’t feeling as good. We are still hopeful he will be available for tomorrow. We will have to see how he responds.

Is it Ilya Samsonov in net for tomorrow?

Keefe: We will see.

What went into inserting Nick Robertson onto the third line and Noah Gregor on the fourth?

Keefe: If you look at the lineup we had in practice today, that is sort of my response to it in terms of getting more versatility in. You have speed and skill with Robertson and Gregor — Gregor on the penalty kill, and Robertson on the power play.

You are trying to have a more versatile lineup, particularly with our opponent tomorrow night. They are four lines deep and their scoring is spread out over four lines as much or more than anybody in the league. It is a night when we are going to do four lines.

Is moving Timothy Liljegren onto the top power-play group about maintaining some defensive awareness on the unit?

Keefe: It has nothing to do with the defending part. It has more to do with the offense.

Lily, when he has been with our number one group, has really helped speed us up and get pucks to the net. Having the right shot — with the amount of pressure that we would be facing — helps us to get out of pressure, and it helps us on entries. That is part of the reason we had Jarnkrok there with that right shot.

Now, it is a little bit different, but Lily is another righty who did a really good job for us on the top power-play unit. We thought it would be helpful over another lefty.

What is the message to Nick Robertson now that he is getting a chance to rejoin the lineup?

Keefe: This is a spot where Robby has been at his best: He has been in and out of the lineup and comes in and gives us a boost. That is what this scenario is right now. Just go out and be at your best. He has played his best hockey when he has been out of the lineup and has come back in. We fully expect him to make an impact.

What are you looking to see from Pontus Holmberg on the top-line RW spot next to Auston Matthews?

Keefe: Just exactly what he did last night, and it started before he was moved onto that line: Being strong on the puck, winning battles, making plays on the puck, showing confidence, and all of those kinds of things.

When you are on the fly — as we were yesterday when we lost Jarny and were kind of managing the bench hand energy levels — I didn’t know if I was going to stay with Holmberg in that spot, but we needed him for that moment. They had one good shift, so we stayed with it, and then he had another good shift. We let it breathe there.

Last night was a good example — for me, at least — or a reminder of why you give these guys these opportunities. If you recall earlier in the season — a couple of months ago, or whatever it was — we gave Holmberg a run on a line with Auston on the left wing. That helps him be more comfortable when we go back to it.

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