With the Stanley Cup Playoffs on deck for the Toronto Maple Leafs and their opponent already known, you can bet that head coach Sheldon Keefe is going to do everything possible to make sure that his lineup is fully healthy later this month when perhaps the most critical series in their organization’s recent history finally gets underway.
And to that end, he’s practicing a bit of what has become known as “load management” within the circles of the NBA. And it was forward Mitch Marner who was not in action against the visiting Detroit Red Wings, which would ultimately turn out to the a 5-2 victory for them.
And while Marner appears to understand the decision, it doesn’t mean that he had to like it. Based on his comments, he sure didn’t appear to agree with it.
“It sucks… sometimes we got people in here that do all the stats and all the stuff, that I guess, that’s what they’re paid for and (they) make sure that we’re trying to look at a bigger picture,” Marner said of being sat on Sunday night. “Definitely a tough one, but there’s bigger things.”
Marner was ultimately joined in the press box by teammates Mark Giordano and Jake McCabe, both of whom were also rested for Sunday’s game by Keefe.
With 28 goals and 67 assists, Marner is only five points away from eclipsing the century mark, which would be a career first for him should be be able to accomplish the feat in Toronto’s five remaining regular season games. Meanwhile, he’s only two points away from tying his career high of 97 points that was set last year.