Mitch Marner is getting some company in the Maple Leafs’ trainers room.
The Leafs announced on Friday morning that centre Alex Kerfoot will be out indefinitely after undergoing surgery to repair facial dental fractures.
Will Kerfoot be out days or weeks?
“I didn’t have the courage to ask, to be honest with you,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “I don’t know what the timelines are.”
At the morning skate on Friday at Scotiabank Arena as the Leafs prepared to face the Boston Bruins, Jason Spezza centred the Leafs’ third line between Ilya Mikheyev and Trevor Moore.
Kerfoot suffered the injury in a game on Nov. 5 against the Los Angeles Kings when he was hit with hard open-ice check by Kings forward Jeff Carter. When the Leafs were in New York to play the Islanders on Wednesday, Kerfoot reported ongoing discomfort to the team.
After consultation testing, it was determined that surgery was required.
Marner is nursing a high right ankle sprain and is expected to be out for at least the next four weeks.
Acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in the off-season, Kerfoot had worked his way into Babcock’s good books and had eight points in 20 games.
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