Thornton out, Hyman out, and Muzzin has a broken bone.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without one of their top defensemen for the immediate future, although at the time of this writing it appears unclear what that timeframe might look like. 

According to a breaking news report from National Hockey League insider Chris Johnston, veteran blue liner Jake Muzzin has suffered a broken bone in his face. We don't know which bone Muzzin has broken so it is difficult to determine how long he might be held out of the lineup for, but according to Johnston he will return with a full face shield when he does come back. This could be a sign that Muzzin intends to return to the ice sooner rather than later, and with some extra protection to make up for that, but that is only speculation on my part at this time.

Unfortunately the bad news does not stop there for the Maple Leafs on Monday, with two additional players also currently listed as day to day. Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe informed reporters on Monday that two of his veteran forwards, in this case Joe Thornton and Zach Hyman, would also be kept on the sidelines for the time being. The good news is that in both these cases the players are currently listed as day to day, so this will likely be a short term absence for both the Leafs forwards. 

Interestingly enough TSN's Mark Masters reports that Muzzin could also end up being day to day in spite of the broken bone in his face, which would make all 3 of these short term absences for the Leafs.

This has obviously left the Leafs significantly short handed when it comes to their lineup and that will be a problem considering they play the Calgary Flames this evening at 7 pm Eastern. As a result of the injuries the the Leafs regulars Sheldon Keefe has made 3 adjustments to his lineup for tonight's game. Drawing in for the Leafs will be forward Alexander Barabanov, defenseman Mikko Lehtonen, and center Nic Petan, all players who have now played in multiple games for the Leafs this season. 

The big question mark stemming from this is of course the status of Muzzin, and we will bring you more updates on that status when they become available.