Simon Benoit pulled from Leafs’ lineup minutes before the game!

The Maple Leafs are hosting the Utah Mammoth on Wednesday in Toronto and as soon as players hit the ice for warm ups, it was obvious that a big piece was missing.

It has just been confirmed that defenseman Simon Benoit is not on the ice and will not take part in tonight’s game, per team insider Mark Masters.

Instead, Dakota Mermis draws in and this is the Maple Leafs’ defense pairings vs. Utah:

Rielly - Carlo

Ekman-Larsson - McCabe

Mermis - Myers

On their blue line, the Maple Leafs are already without Chris Tanev. In his very first game back from a concussion, Tanev lay motionless on the ice in Philadelphia and had to spend the night at the local hospital for observations. An unexpected collision with Matvei Michkov left Tanev completely vulnerable and unable to protect himself.

The focus is now on his long-term health as he remains sidelined with an upper-body injury.

This meant that, going into Wednesday’s matchups against the Mammoth, Toronto was already dealing with a significant void on its back end.

Now, Benoit is now competing either tonight.

The Leafs did however get forwards Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz back from injury, which is a huge plus up front. They are on the fourth line.

However, fans cannot wait to get more details on Benoit’s sudden absence and how long it will be.

UPDATE: The Maple Leafs later confirmed that Benoit was not in tonight's lineup due to illness. That's why he was pulled at the last minute prior to the contest.