Bad luck may force Rasmus Sandin to miss the World Juniors.

Sandin may be the victim of poor timing.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Bad luck may force Rasmus Sandin to miss the World Juniors.
Randy Litzinger/Icon SMI/Zuma

The Toronto Maple Leafs picked up a big win on Saturday night when they defeated Connor McDavid and his Edmonton Oilers, but all the talk coming out of the game has not been on the win. Instead the focus has been on the health of injured defenseman Tyson Barrie who was forced out of the contest last night due to an injury he suffered while blocking a shot from Edmonton's Gaetan Haas with the front of his skate. 

The good news here is that the initial update from Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe on Saturday night was a positive one. The Leafs bench boss did not provide an official medical update on the status of his defenseman but did confirm that thus far x-rays were showing no signs of any broken bones, which is of course terrific news given the nature of the injury suffered by Barrie.

"No update other than his x-rays he had were negative, but he just didn't feel comfortable enough to go back," said Keefe on Saturday following another big win for his team. "So we'll have to just see how he is when we get home."

That is of course very good news for Tyson Barrie and the Maple Leafs, but unfortunately it now sounds like the news may not be good enough for everyone involved in this situation. According to a report from Sportsnet National Hockey League insider Chris Johnston the ramifications of this injury could still impact one young Maple Leaf, that Maple Leaf being defenseman Rasmus Sandin. According to Johnston there was already some debate internally about allowing Sandin to compete in the World Junior Championship tournament this year, and this may now cause the Leafs to revisit that discussion.

"As mentioned on Saturday Headlines, the Leafs will revisit their pending decision on Rasmus Sandin's availability for the world junior championship after losing Tyson Barrie to an ankle injury in Edmonton tonight," said Johnston.

That would of course be a big letdown for Sandin no doubt, but you can easily see why the Maple Leafs would strongly consider keeping him in Toronto to have him available at the drop of a hat. The Maple Leafs are not exactly deep on the blue line and this latest scare may have been enough to deter them from letting Sandin go to the tournament.


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