Ex-Leafs D Rasmus Sandin suffers horrible knee injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs made the decision last month to trade 22 year old defenseman Rasmus Sandin to the Washington Capitals in exchange for Erik Gustafsson and a 2023 first-round pick. It officially brought an end to his time with the organization who drafted him in the first round, 29th overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

And after Washington's regular season ended without a trip to the playoffs, Sandin made the choice to head overseas to represent his native Sweden in the 2023 IIHF World Championship. But it's a decision that he could soon be regretting after suffering a vicious knee-on-knee hit from Team USA forward Michael Eyssimont:

Sandin would have to leave the game and was unable to put any weight on his injured leg. Meanwhile, Eyssimont was assessed a five minute major penalty and a game misconduct. 

For Sandin, he described his trade to Washington as "exciting" and that it's been fun wearing a new team's uniform. 

“It was very exciting coming to a new team, a new city,” he said after the regular season. “I fell in love with it pretty quick. It’s been a hectic year, lot of things have happened, but it’s been a lot of fun too.”

Sandin played in a total of 71 games split between the Maple Leafs and Capitals this season, scoring seven goals to go with 28 assists and a plus-3 rating.