Leafs bring in some more grit after losing Simmonds to injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs will certainly feel the loss of winger Wayne Simmonds for the next 6 weeks after Simmonds left Saturday evening's game against the Vancouver Canucks after taking a clearing attempt off of his hand and was seen laboring on the bench before vacating with a trainer to the Leafs' locker room.

On Sunday, the Leafs did what they could to shore up their toughness department with the addition of winger Scott Sabourin on a one-year, two-way deal worth $700,000 at the NHL level and $250,000 at the AHL level.

Sabourin signed an AHL deal with Toronto during the offseason to play with the Marlies, and it is looking like a bright move by the 28-year-old, as he has parlayed that into an NHL deal with the Leafs.

Sabourin, who was famously trolled by Auston Matthews last season during a post-whistle scrum as a member of the Ottawa Senators, has played just 35 games in his NHL career, registering 2 goals and 6 points to go along with 33 penalty minutes.

Sabourin may not be Simmonds, but he had shown himself to be a useful player for the Sens at times in 2019-20. Though he will not slot into the "Wayne Train"'s spot in the Leafs' top-six, nor is he likely to see any time on the man-advantage, the opposition will have to keep their heads up while the hard-hitting forward is on the ice. The Orleans, Ontario will also not shy away from dropping the mitts to keep the opposing team in line and sticking up for his new teammates - which is pretty much exactly what Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe will be looking for from Sabourin if and when he does crack the lineup.

Sabourin is expected to be a part of the Leafs' rotation of fourth liners as soon as the coming week.

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