Sheldon Keefe makes several last minute changes to his lineup.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are shaking things up tonight.

The Leafs will face off against the Buffalo Sabres, who have been surprisingly good at home this season, on Saturday night and Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe has made some notable adjustments to his lineup ahead of this one. Four Maple Leafs have been swapped out and while injuries are a factor here, it sounds like one veteran is having his minutes trimmed down or managed at the very least.

The first move comes on the blue line and there we will see Rasmus Sandin step out of the lineup this evening, with defenseman Travis Dermott stepping in to replace him against the Sabres. This appears to be a case of Sandin dealing with some bumps and bruises that have added up early on in the season, with Keefe electing to give him the additional time off to recover from those minor ailments.

"He's played a lot here as a young guy for us and has had some bumps and bruises along the way and has played through it," said Keefe. "Today, he'd be fine to play, but we just thought that, given we want to get Dermott in, it made sense to give Rasmus the day"

Perhaps the most interesting change to the lineup however comes on the front end, with veteran forward Wayne Simmonds being left on the sidelines this evening in favor of Russian centerman Kirill Semyonov who made his National Hockey League debut with the Maple Leafs earlier in the week. This does not appear to be a case of Simmonds dealing with any injuries but instead a decision on the part of Sheldon Keefe to limit Simmonds' role this season as he gets to a more advanced stage of his career.

It would be unfair to suggest that Simmonds is the only player influencing this decision. Keefe reportedly liked what he saw from Semyonov in his NHL debut this past Wednesday, enough so that the 27 year old veteran of the Kontinental Hockey League is getting another shot in the lineup this evening.

It is also worth noting that the Leafs are playing the 2nd game of a back to back this evening, something that may have also influenced Keefe's decision.