Toronto Maple Leaf defender takes a leave of absence from team due to personal reasons

At times, family takes precedence over everything, even if you play in the National Hockey League. It's important to prioritize personal matters and of that means leaving your team to do it, so be it.

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach, Sheldon Keefe, recently announced that defender Erik Gustafsson will be departing the team to attend to a personal matter back in Washington, as reported by David Alter of Rink Wide: Toronto and the NHL Network.

Keefe stated that Gustafsson was not present on the ice and would not be with the team due to a personal family situation he needed to attend to.

Gustafsson, who is 31 years old, was acquired earlier this season in exchange for Rasmus Sandin. He has a total of 39 points in 69 games played, split between the Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals.

It's hoped that everything is okay as Gustafsson focuses on his family, and credit should be given to the Leafs for prioritizing the players' personal matters over hockey

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