Maple Leafs depth at centre could be a cause for concern if an injury occurs

Maple Leafs depth at centre could be a cause for concern if an injury occurs

The injury bug has hit the Maple Leafs hard early this season, but they’ve been lucky that their centremen have stayed healthy.
Auston Matthews and John Tavares are two players who I’d consider to be number one centre’s on any NHL team. Though after that, the skill down the middle for Toronto drops off a cliff.
And that’s something they’re going to need to address by the trade deadline.
The Maple Leafs entered the season with a vacancy at fourth line centre, with plenty of players auditioning for the role. In a perfect world, I believe Toronto would love to have David Kämpf play that part. But for now, it’s Pontus Holmberg.
It’s not the worst thing in world to have the 23-year-old rookie as your fourth line centre, especially when he’s playing the way he is. Holmberg has earned everything that he’s been given in the first 13 games by Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe.
But what happens if there’s an injury at that position?
Toronto has been playing incredible with the amount of injuries they’ve had this season. Their defence, in particular, had a hell of a stretch with players like T.J. Brodie, J …

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Author: Nick Barden / The Leafs Nation

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had wrist surgery, Blue Jays say he’ll be ready for spring training

The Toronto Blue Jays have provided an injury update on outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Gurriel underwent successful wrist surgery on Tuesday and the team says that he’ll be ready for spring training.
The wrist issue was apparently something that has been nagging Gurriel throughout the course of the season. After the Blue Jays were eliminated from the playoffs, Gurriel had some follow-up checks done and it was decided that surgery was the best option.
Gurriel went on the 10-day Injured List in early September because of a hamstring injury that was suffered running out a ground ball during a game with the Baltimore Orioles. He wound up missing the rest of the regular season and both of Toronto’s playoff games.
Dealing with a wrist issue could help explain some of Gurriel’s struggles at the plate in 2022. His contact numbers (a .291 batting average and a .343 on-base percentage) were strong, but Gurriel’s power numbers saw a significant decline from previous seasons. His .400 slugging percentage was the lowest of any single season in his career and was well below the .492 career average he had coming into the season.
The hope is that …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation