Connor Brown out indefinitely with fractured ankle

The never ending depth of the Toronto Marlies can get frustrating for its players at times, but on occasion, the team lands itself in a situation where having an abundance of roster players plays to its benefits.

Such is the case right now, with the news that Connor Brown will be out of the lineup indefinitely thanks to an ankle fracture.

Brown suffered the injury less than four minutes into the first period of Toronto’s 6-1 win over Grand Rapids, where he tried to block a shot from the Griffins’ Brian Lashoff (brother of former Leafs/Marlies defenceman Matt). Brown was very slow to crawl himself to the bench, and after being looked at by trainers, headed to the dressing room and did not return.

Brown was on a line with Sam Carrick and Matt Frattin. Sunday’s lines against Albany were quite different, with Brown out and Carrick suspended for trying to break free of the referees during an altercation in Friday’s third period. Mark Arcobello and Casey Bailey drew into the lineup to replace the two.

Through eight games this season, Brown has no goals and four assists. He was the AHL’s rookie scoring leader last year, picking up 21 goals and 40 assists in 76 games.

The Marlies listed his return date as indefinite. As a rule of thumb, ankle fractures require at least four weeks to recover from. Damon Severson was originally listed as out for 4-5 weeks when he suffered one with Lou Lamoriello’s New Jersey Devils last year but didn’t get back into action for eleven. St. Louis’ Jaden Schwartz’s ankle fracture, suffered this week, has a timeline of twelve weeks. The Marlies will surely be hoping for a return sooner than later, but in the mean time, might have to become familiar with life without one of their core players.

Toronto returns to the ice tomorrow morning against Hartford.