Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe and forward David Kampf were absent from Friday’s practice due to injuries and have been ruled out of Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, head coach Craig Berube confirmed Friday.
“Right now I’d say day-to-day. I can’t really comment on that too much about how long it’s going to be,” Berube said via TSN’s Mark Masters.
McCabe headed to the dressing room with just over a minute remaining in Wednesday’s game against the Florida Panthers. It’s unclear when McCabe suffered the injury, as he got accidentally tangled up with an official after Matthew Knies’ game-winning goal.
Kampf was ruled out of Wednesday’s game during the third period with an upper-body injury. He appeared to be in pain during his final shift, late in the second period.
Kampf's last shift, you can see him hunched over as he skates off pic.twitter.com/0u3VKeqqmv
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 3, 2025
Oliver Ekman-Larsson was paired with Chris Tanev, while Philippe Myers was paired with Simon Benoit on Friday. Morgan Rielly and Brandon Carlo remained intact, and could likely function as the Maple Leafs’ top pairing. Ekman-Larsson and Tanev have played extensively throughout the season as the Maple Leafs’ fifth-most commonly-used defensive pairing, with a plus-five goal differential and a 52.8 percent share of the expected goals during 249:32 at 5-on-5 via Natural Stat Trick.
McCabe has registered two goals and 23 points in 66 games for the Maple Leafs this season, forming a true shutdown pairing alongside Tanev. Kampf has functioned primarily as the Maple Leafs’ fourth-line centre, while also getting penalty kill minutes, recording five goals and 13 points in 59 games this season.
Pontus Holmberg was moved to centre on the fourth line, while Nick Robertson was reinserted as the fourth line’s right wing on Friday via David Alter of The Hockey News. Robertson also worked with the Maple Leafs’ second power play unit alongside Rielly, Ekman-Larsson, Max Domi and Bobby McMann.