Sheldon Keefe provides concerning update on Mitch Marner

Since he sustained a lower-body injury during a 4-1 loss at the Boston Bruins on March 7, Mitch Marner has been sidelined and the Toronto Maple Leafs have been forced to play around with line combinations since. Forward Nick Robertson has even been recalled from the AHL’s Marlies.

On Wednesday after practice that saw more of head coach Sheldon Keefe making changes to the lineup, Marner was still absent.

After the skate, Keefe was asked about his star forward’s availability ahead of Thursday’s contest against the Philadelphia Flyers, saying that there is no update on Marner’s status other than to say that he skated for the first time since suffering that lower-body injury against Boston.

“Read into that what you will.”

Basically: don’t expect him in Thursday’s game. But could the bench boss mean much longer?

While it is clearly a good sign that Marner has resumed skating, it hasn’t been with his teammates and is not close to a practice with contact. Keefe’s update isn’t as clear as fans and pundits would want it to be, but the head coach had previously mentioned that Marner could use the time to recover and feel better.

Especially with the postseason around the corner. Marner has put up 25 goals and 76 points in 62 games this season.

In other news, better ones, for the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, defenseman Jake McCabe returned to practice after he missed Monday’s session for maintenance.

Keefe also confirmed that goalie Ilya Samsonov will get the start tomorrow night against the Flyers.