Conor Timmins 'All Good To Go Now' and Eager to Contribute to Maple Leafs Following Bout with Mono, Faces Competitive Challenge
When it looks like Conor Timmins' opportunity to strike stares him square in the face, he seems to hit a setback.
Taking part in his first practice since being diagnosed with a case of mononucleosis, the Toronto Maple Leafs' offensive defenseman took part in the full session, skating as part of an extra defensive pair alongside William Lagesson.
The defenseman was unavailable to the club in early February when he had an illness. Blood tests later revealed a mononucleosis (mono) diagnosis, which forced the 25-year-old to rest as he dealt with fever, a sore throat and fatigue. It only took about a week after the initial diagnosis for the player to skate with the conditioning staff again. But contact wasn't permitted.
"I turned the corner pretty quickly," Timmins said. "I don’t know if it’s been two or three weeks waiting on their spleen to come down, but I felt really good. "Not any fatigue or anything like that."
According to doctors, the size of one's spleen can hit maximum size anywhere between two to three weeks after mono is diagnosed. That made it particularly frustrating for Timmins, who could see the club was in dire need of another right-sided defenseman like himself as the club was forced to play with six lefties when teammate Timothy Liljegren was unavailable for a pair of games with an undisclosed injury.
It was another opportunity missed for Timmins, after a season that started with so much promise.
"You don’t want to accept but obviously you always want to be available," Timmins said. "But there really isn’t much you can do at the time. Just take it a day at a time and work as much as you can. Things usually tend to work themselves out."
Timmins made a case to become part daily of the lineup this season with the Maple Leafs during training camp after leading the team in pre-season scoring. That was until he sustained a lower-body injury (believed to be a knee injury) in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. That forced him to miss more than the first month of the regular season. He made his season debut on Nov. 24 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Since that time, Simon Benoit has established himself as an everyday player on the club, regularly skating alongside Jake McCabe. And the club's re-acquisition of Ilya Lyubushkin from the Anaheim Ducks last week has pushed Timmins further down.
That also doesn't include any additional roster moves the Leafs could make between now and Friday's NHL trade deadline.
"It’s hard to really judge where he’s at or to put him right into the mix. We’ll see how it goes," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said of Timmins. "He’s got some challenges there in terms of getting ready and showing he’s ready for game action."
In five years in the NHL, the 2017 NHL second-round Draft Pick has been limited to 82 NHL games due to various injuries.
Roster implication when Timmins is ready and when he'll return
Timmins carries a salary cap hit of $1.1 million annually and is under contract through the 2024-25 season. The Leafs never placed the defenseman on long-term injured reserve and is currently under the team's cap. When the player is ready, they'll be able to activate him with ease. It's just about making room for him on the 23-man roster. That numerical limit will be removed on Friday and perhaps that might make for an opportunity for the player to get into some games. However, with no practices scheduled for the remainder of the week, he's not expected to see game action anytime soon.
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