Timmins in, Jarnkrok a question mark, and Maple Leafs could avoid Corey Perry: Leafs Practice Notes

For the second time this week the NHL has a night off from games. Tuesday night was more of a mystery, tonight is more about the NHL forgetting they have Canadian teams they can schedule during American Thanksgiving. Anyways, after waiting for so long for another Leafs game, tonight just gives us more time to prepare the Black Friday afternoon matchup tomorrow.

Conor Timmins being healthy probably means that Conor Timmins should play. Way back when John Klingberg was signed it was because the Leafs wanted another powerplay defenceman/puck mover and they completely ignored that Timmins could be it. Injuries certainly make a good point about reliability, but now with Timmins ready to return and Klingberg now out, this roster adjustment seems pretty obvious.

When it comes to what the Leafs will do to activate Timmins, it will come down to who they need to demote to make the money work and if Calle Jarnkrok is ready to play tomorrow. If Jarnkrok is ready to play, it’s pretty easy to just keep McMann and Benoit off the roster. If Jarnkrok isn’t ready to play, the Leafs need to decide whether it’s LTIR time for Klingberg or it might be beneficial to keep Timmins out one more game as they will need to use McMann at forward and give Benoit another game on the blueline.

Speaking of Klingberg…

Does this not sound like debating whether or not to have season ending surgery? The decision seems to be sitting completely with Klingberg but this also sounds like it is coming down to a find a way to play through the pain or regroup for a chance to play next season. No matter what it doesn’t seem like Klingberg will be in the Leafs roster anytime soon and he could potentially have a minimal stay on the LTIR.

Back to Jarnkrok…

If the Leafs can sit Jarnkrok to let him get right, Chicago is probably the opponent to do it against. It doesn’t seem serious although I don’t think getting hit with a Matthews shot sounds like something I’d want to deal with.

Seems like a pretty standard split for Samsonov and Woll. Samsonov as he still works his way back to where he was last season could use a goalie friendly opponent like Chicago, while the Leafs are still looking to test what they have with Joseph Woll against stronger opponents and the streaking Penguins are definitely that.

It will be interesting to see if the Leafs have to go with these lines in Jarnkrok’s absence. The speed of Gregor on the third line would be interesting and he’s certainly earned a look a bit higher up in the lineup to see what he can do. Even if the Leafs are able to play Jarnkrok tomorrow, it might be preferable to have Jarnkrok sit back in a fourth line capacity and limit his icetime in favour of Gregor.

Finally, the Leafs might not be seeing Corey Perry on Friday and the notorious pain in the Leafs side won’t get a chance to visit with Ryan Reaves, who seems like he could find his way into the Leafs roster due to Toronto’s cap situation.

Perry was scratched in Chicago’s last game, wasn’t at practice, and with Luke Richardson being tight lipped about it, the odds of Perry playing against Toronto seems slim. It doesn’t sound like Toronto will get to shoot against Petr Mrazek and that’s a bit of a bummer.

It’s also noteworthy that Taylor Hall has been shut down for the season and won’t be in the Blackhawks lineup.