Leafs Dman turns down World Championship invite

KHL and Russian hockey insider Aivis Kalnins made waves on Twitter this morning when he announced that Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev declined an invitation to the IIHF World Hockey Championships from the Russian Federation due to injury concerns. The injury? A suspected concussion.

It’s not known whether the Leafs knowingly let Zaitsev play with the injury, or whether it was suffered in last night’s defeat to the Washington Capitals, but regardless it has to be concerning the the team’s fans.

If the Leafs did in fact have knowledge of the injury and let Zaitsev play despite their better judgement, it shows a staggering lack of care for the wellbeing of their players. If they in fact didn’t know and Zaitsev played anyways, it’s an embarrassing show of ineptitude from the team’s medical staff. Either way you look at it, it doesn’t show the Leafs in a good light.

Concussed or not, Zaitsev was a big part of the reason the Leafs made it as far as they did in this postseason. The 25 year-old blue liner had 4 goals and 36 points in his rookie campaign and suited up for four of the Leafs six playoff games.