I guess we can file this one under things that certainly aren’t ideal.

After Greg Moore had initially stated that Sandin would be listed as day to day, the diagnosis has taken a turn for the worse, and Sandin could miss a sizeable portion of this condensed AHL season. That would mean that since last March, one of the Leafs prospects has played five minutes in the NHL, and one game in AHL. Again, that’s not ideal for him or the Leafs.

As far as the Leafs depth situation, with Lehtonen, Marincin, Liljegren, and Rosen all capable of stepping up and the Marlies being deep enough on defense that they trade David Warsofsky and were dressing Joseph Duszak as a forward, the immediate team worries aren’t significant. It’s more the long term picture that needs to be considered, especially since it seemed that Rasmus Sandin was going to be a likely member of the Leafs defensive group next season.

The issues with Sandin seem to be mirroring the struggles they have with keeping Timothy Liljegren healthy enough to know what they have in him and getting him ready for the next step. This situation certainly shifts the focus back to Liljegren as the top organizational defense prospect, and he has been playing like that in the first couple of games of the season for the Marlies.

Fingers are crossed that several weeks is the lowest possible number that meets the “several” threshold, and at the very least, with the NHL season extending well into the summer, Sandin will get his shot back on the taxi squad later this year even if the majority of the Marlies season is lost.

Certainly not the news anyone was hoping for, but at least we know he’s willing to step in front of shots.