The Toronto Maple Leafs held an optional skate at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday ahead of tonight's matchup with the Montreal Canadiens.

Forced to dress only five defencemen in Saturday night's game against the Canadiens, the Maple Leafs may turn to Mitch Marner to take a couple shifts on the back end.

"I don't have a lot of guys with experience that have played back there other than Mitch," said coach Craig Berube. "I know Mitch has done it before and he does it on the power play. So, he is capable, if we need it, to give us minutes."

Marner, who is second on the team in average ice time (21:22), has spent much of the season as the quarterback of a five-forward power-play unit. During the last two seasons, Marner did take some shifts as a defenceman under former coach Sheldon Keefe when the Leafs trailed late in games.

"Mitchy is the easy answer," said forward Scott Laughton when asked who could fill in. "I heard he's played it a couple times and looked pretty good. So, yeah, I think he would be the pick."
None of the five defencemen who will suit up for the Leafs participated in Saturday's optional skate even though Chris Tanev, Simon Benoit, Brandon Carlo and Philippe Myers usually take the ice in this situation. Conserving energy is paramount on a day like this.
"Never seen it in my career," Leafs winger Nick Robertson said of the shorthanded lineup. "It’s a first for me. I know why [it's happening], but it’s pretty unique."

With fewer than 10 games remaining in the regular season, teams are unable to place players on long term injured reserve to create more cap space. So, contending teams that loaded up at the deadline can find themselves in a bind when multiple injuries pop up at the same time. Leafs defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson got hurt on........

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