Toronto Maple Leafs forward Milan Michalek has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a knee injury, the team announced Saturday.
Michalek came to the Leafs in the Feb. 9 Dion Phaneuf trade, carrying one year left one his contract with a $4 million AAV. When Toronto acquired him, he was injured. He wasn’t able to suit up for the Leafs until March 7, playing a total of 13 games with the team.
In that time he scored a goal and five assists, with eight shots and an average ice time of 14:25.
On the season, Michalek appeared in 45 games, scoring seven goals and nine assists.
He joins a full slate of Leafs who are out injured. Stephane Robidas, James van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul and Matt Hunwick are all done for the year. Nikita Soshnikov, Viktor Loov, Leo Komarov and Pete Holland have all missed time recently.
Despite all these injuries and trading away a lot of players, including Phaneuf, Nick Spaling, Shawn Mathias, Daniel Winnik, James Reimer and Roman Polak, the Leafs are 8-4-0 in their last 12 games.
Dustin Nelson is the News Editor for The Hockey Writers. He’s a contributor to Hockey Prospectus, Hockey Wilderness, and writes a column for Rotowire. He’s also written for Gone Puck Wild, Wild Xtra, InDigest, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Tiny Mix Tapes, Prefix Magazine & other publications. Have a tip? Email him at dlukenelson[at]gmail[dot]com.