Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe won’t be in the lineup on Wednesday night against the Nashville Predators at Scotiabank Arena.
After McCabe was hit in the head by a shot off the stick of Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman Nick Perbix on Saturday night, the 31-year-old didn’t play in the Leafs win at home against the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
Does Berube expect McCabe to be back for the weekend? The Leafs play host to the Washington Capitals on Friday and visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
“Yeah, I’m a positive guy, so I do expect (McCabe to return),” Berube said. “It’s just how he feels, right? So hopefully he’s feeling better and better every day and we’ll see. This guy is a warrior. He’ll play if he can. I’m hoping he is back.”
McCabe leads Leafs defencemen in ice time, averaging 21 minutes 20 seconds a game.
Winger Ryan Reaves will be back in the Leafs lineup now that he has served a five-game suspension for an illegal check to the head on Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse. Alex Nylander will be scratched.
Nylander has been ineffective in four games with the Leafs, registering just four shots on goal.
In answering a question about Nylander’s play, Berube conjured memories of Randy Carlyle’s controversial comments on goalie James Reimer in 2014, when the Leafs coach at the time said Reimer was “just OK” in a game versus Detroit.
“Just OK,” Berube said about Nylander. “He has done some good things. He had some scoring opportunities early on, he’s a skilled guy that scores. Hasn’t been a ton of power play time for him. The first unit eats a lot of that up and but, you know, I’d say (he has been) fair.”
