If you ask around the fanbase in Toronto, the sentiment will be the same for the most part when it comes to defenceman Jake McCabe. He’s a warrior that puts everything into protecting his defensive zone and he leaves it all out on the ice. With that, however, comes bumps, bruises and sometimes injuries for the Toronto Maple Leafs heart and soul guy on the backend.
As such, the Maple Leafs have currently listed McCabe as day-to-day as they head into the final stretch of their regular season. Some of that could be rest, while a lot of it is making sure that he’s 100 percent ready to go for the postseason. After all, he’s a player that some on the team have described as irreplaceable when he’s not in the lineup.
Jake McCabe Listed as Day-to-Day
McCabe was listed as day-to-day following their 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday. While it wasn’t clear when the injury occurred – or what it was exactly that caused it – McCabe did have a collision late in the game with a linesman that seemed harmless at the time.
He is set to miss the team’s game on Saturday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, as Craig Berube was quiet as to what extent McCabe injury was and how long they would be without his services. That, however, didn’t stop the Maple Leafs coach from discussing how important McCabe was to the Maple Leafs’ long-term goals this season.
McCabe’s an Irreplaceable Asset for the Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs currently have four wins in nine games without McCabe this season and the losing record without the defenceman doesn’t fall on deaf ears.
“Well, I think he does a lot of things for us in terms of a shutdown defenceman with Tanev, or he’s had different partners,” said Berube on McCabe who’s averaging just over 21 minutes per game this season. “His defensive plays. His physical play. You know, his leadership. I mean, he brings a lot. PK – it’s hard to sit here and say we can replace him. It’s pretty tough.”
But the recognition of his game goes well beyond the coaching staff. The leadership group in Toronto also recognizes what McCabe brings to the lineup on a nightly basis.
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“Yeah, I’ve talked about him being a heart and soul type of player,” said John Tavares in the above clip. “The emotion he brings. The competitive element. Physicality. Blocking shots. Battling along walls and things like that. But also his ability to contribute offensively, keep plays alive, great awareness out there and playmaking ability… just things like that that go a long way into your team playing well offensively and with a lot of pace and connecting our game in all three zones. He’s just a major factor in so many different areas. Kills penalties. He’s obviously had his fair share of cuts, bruises and things that we’ve seen where he’s just battling and competing. So he just brings that type of emotion and passion that I think that guys feed off of that’s important for any hockey team, but certainly for us here.”
McCabe currently sits second on the team in hits with 135, trailing only Chris Tanev (176), and fourth on the team in hits behind Simon Benoit, Steven Lorentz and Matthew Knies. Of his zone starts, 62.7 percent of them come in the defensive zone, while his expected plus-minus is 6.9.
What McCabe’s Injury Means for the Maple Leafs
Given that he’s a major piece on the Maple Leafs’ backend, his place in the lineup will be a noticeable hole until he returns. Berube discussed the fact that Philippe Myers would step into the vacant spot in the lineup on Saturday, but the Maple Leafs will need others to step up. Twenty-one minutes is a lot of time to replace and they are heavy minutes against opposing team’s top lines.
With that considered, Tanev, Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo will be looked upon to pick up some of the tough minutes left behind by McCabe with a focus being put on the physicality and blocks that he adds to the lineup.
On top of that, Myers and Benoit will have to play more sound defence in his absence with the Maple Leafs, as a full unit, needing to play a five-man defensive game knowing that one of their key cogs that make the machine run will be missing time down the stretch.
After all, the Maple Leafs are still looking to lock up first place in the Atlantic Division over the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. But they also need McCabe to rest and get back to 100 percent ahead of the playoffs. If he’s missed this much in the latter part of the regular season, there’s no telling how much the team will miss him when the playoffs do roll around.
