Sheldon Keefe Gives Disappointing Update on Mitch Marner Recovery

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Tom Banks
March 18, 2024 (6:27 PM)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have big goals in 2023-24, but if they want to achieve any of them, they need to be healthy heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, especially in their forward group.

Mitch Marner remains out with an injury

While the original diagnosis on Mitch Marner's injury revealed that the team hoped he would return this past weekend, things haven't gone the way that the team would have liked, as he remained out of practice on Monday morning.

According to Sheldon Keefe, the team are giving Marner more time to recover, as they want him to be 100% healthy for the playoffs, rather than rush back and risk another injury.

"It hasn't been responding the way that they had hoped," admitted Keefe on Monday.

"So we're just stepping back a bit with it," added Keefe.

Despite originally having their St. Patrick's Day clash with the Carolina Hurricanes as a return date, Marner may now miss the next two games on the road against Philadelphia and Washington.

Morning skate notes: 🗣️

Sheldon Keefe said Mitch Marner, dealing with a high ankle sprain, won't join the team for the next two games.

He also mentioned Ilya Lyubushkin is unwell and likely out for tomorrow's game against Philly.

According to freelance health reporter Ali Rendely, the average recover time from Marner's injury in the NHL has been eight games, so with the playoffs less than eight weeks away, the team are right to be patient as they need him healthy if they are to make a Stanley Cup run.

Spoke to @kevin_mcgran about Marner's ankle injury

Return from high ankle sprains in the NHL is highly variable with a median of 8 games missed (range, 0-65 games)

As Read on Hockey Feed - Sheldon Keefe changes his tune on the Mitch Marner injury.