Leafs backup goaltender Michal Neuvirth has been injured.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have really only just gotten their training camp underway and they have already been hit with some bad news.

According to a report from TSN's Kristen Shilton it now appears as though veteran goaltender Michal Neuvirth has suffered some kind of injury during training camp, a major red flag for a goaltender who has struggled very badly with injuries during his career. It is unclear at this time what type of injury he has suffered, but Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock did acknowledge that Neuvirth had in fact been injured.

“He wasn’t feeling good body-wise [on Sunday], and we kept him off today,” head coach Mike Babcock said after the Leafs’ practices at Mile One Centre on Monday. 

This is a tough break for the Maple Leafs to be sure as Neuvirth was expected to be a strong candidate to win the backup job behind goaltender Frederik Andersen, but it may turn out to be an even tougher break for Neuvirth himself. I will admit I was somewhat surprised when I heard that Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas had taken a gamble on Neuvirth given his injury history, and with this latest setback I imagine it will make other teams even more hesitant to give him a shot, even as a potential backup.

Mike Babcock also acknowledged that Neuvirth would be hard pressed to win the backup job as a result of this injury, but it was obvious that he was not shutting the door on Neuvirth entirely just yet.

“Obviously it’s not ideal for him. If he wants to battle for a job, he’s got to be in a position to do that. But he’s also got to be healthy.”

When you combine this latest news with the fact that Neuvirth was limited to just 7 games last season when he was a member of the Philadelphia Flyers organization, and things are starting to look very grim for the career of the 31 year old goaltender. On top of that when he did play for the Flyers last season his numbers were abysmal, with Neuvirth recording a hideous 4.27 goals against average and an equally repulsive save percentage of .859 over those 7 games.

It's clear the man has talent, but if his body can not remain healthy then he won't be a very reliable backup.