Leafs make 3 call ups, place Marner and Sandin on IR

This just in, the Toronto Maple Leafs have placed defenseman Rasmus Sandin and forward Mitch Marner on the injured reserve (IR). They've also loaned forward Joey Anderson to the AHL's Toronto Marlies and have recalled forward Alex Steeves and defensemen Alex Biega and Kristians Rubins from the Marlies, as well.

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Sandin, of course, was taken out by Winnipeg Jets defenseman Neal Pionk this past weekend in an ugly knee on knee hit that earned Pionk a two game suspension.

Here's hoping that Sandin can make a full recovery simply through rest and rehab and that surgery won't be needed but... well... just looking at the above video makes me cringe. I've seen way too many careers cut short due to hits like this. Again, here's hoping Sandin can make a full recovery.

As for Marner, TSN NHL insider Darren Dreger reports that the Leafs' hometown boy might miss as much as two weeks of play.

More from Dreger:

For what it's worth, the Leafs are currently 1st place in the NHL and have been absolutely humming as of late. Sure, they'll miss Marner's playmaking ability up front, but this is a team that's on a mission in recent weeks so I don't expect their play to drop off dramatically. 

As for Marner he apparently suffered an injury after colliding with teammate Jake Muzzin in practice. Early reports were that it was nothing serious, but now Dreger is reporting that Marner is on the shelf for a week or more so who knows?

In any case, here's Marner arguing with Muzzin immediately following the collision at practice:

Call me crazy, but if I had a serious injury occur in practice I don't think I'd start a shouting match with my teammates but hey... that's just me.

If nothing else, Leafs' head coach Sheldon Keefe will be forced to shuffle his lineup over the next week and rely on some of his depth players a little more than he has up until this point of the season.