The Maple Leafs’ David Clarkson will suit up for Tuesday’s pre-season game against visiting Ottawa. Head coach Randy Carlyle says it’s important for Clarkson to play as much as possible now before he’s sent to the sidelines for 10 games, starting Oct. 1. (Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Watching from high above the ice, Mark Fraser knew almost immediately that David Clarkson was in trouble.
When he and his Toronto Maple Leafs teammates saw Clarkson jump over the bench on Sunday to join the brawl with the Buffalo Sabres, Fraser figured a suspension was coming. The NHL gave Clarkson an automatic 10-game suspension, just as everyone expected.
“It’s just one of the rules,” Fraser said. “It’s just an unfortunate circumstance, but we’ll all take the reality of it for what it is.”
The reality is that the Leafs now face major roster questions at the start of the regular season. They’ll have to find a way to replace Clarkson in the lineup Oct. 1 at Montreal without the aid of extra cap space because his $5.25-million US hit will continue to count for the length of the suspension.
The Leafs caught a break that forward Phil Kessel was suspended only the rest of the pre-season and no regular-season games for his slashes on Sabres enforcer John Scott. Had the cap-strapped Leafs been forced to find a replacement for Kessel as well, things could have gotten dicey.
“It’s always tough when you get players and you’re missing players because you have to juggle your lineup and your preparation for the opening game in Montreal,” coach Randy Carlyle said. “But he’s not going to be able to play anymore, so now he’s going to really practice hard. So that’s an advantage.”
Injuries to Frazer McLaren (broken finger), Colton Orr (leg bone bruise) and Dave Bolland (groin) already complicate the situation, even though Carlyle expects Bolland to play again during the pre-season.
Even assuming Bolland is ready for the season opener, Clarkson’s suspension opens up a spot for someone like Trevor Smith, Troy Bodie or Carter Ashton.
“When somebody’s out of the lineup, there’s an opportunity for somebody else to fill that spot,” Carlyle said. “We have young kids that have had [an] extended number of games in the exhibition schedule here, and we’re going to continue to take a look at them.”With Clarkson out, Carlyle acknowledged that the Leafs have a “shortage” of right-wingers.
He pointed to players like Josh Leivo and Jamie Devane as possibilities, adding that he hadn’t asked Mason Raymond about playing the right side
Raymond, who signed a $1-million US, one-year deal Monday after he went to camp on a professional tryout, said he played all three forward positions at times while with the Vancouver Canucks. The speedy winger’s versatility could prove valuable to the Leafs in the first month of the season.
“There’s advantages and disadvantages, I think, to both sides,” Raymond said. “I don’t think it’s too much to adjust to. It’s a lot of communication between your teammates and yourself in your end on who’s the first guy back. But I wouldn’t see that being a problem.”
It would be a bigger problem if the Leafs are pressed into a situation that includes two or three AHL-level players in the opening-night lineup. But they could be facing just that after Sunday night’s brawl.
