Frederik Andersen Flying Back To Toronto To Be Evaluated

The Toronto Maple Leafs got a scare when Frederik Andersen left an Olympic qualifying game against Slovenia with an upper body injury.

Frederik Andersen left the game after colliding with his own player in Friday’s loss against Slovenia. Here’s the play:

Frederik Andersen incident w/out sound for those that want the full play. #Leafs https://t.co/TEHxpgilvM

— Alex Nunn (@aj_ranger) September 2, 2016

Oliver Bjorkstrand is the culprit who ran into the Leafs new netminder causing the apparent shoulder injury.

This isn’t good news for the Leafs as Frederik Andersen was just given the reigns for the crease, but it certainly isn’t the end of the world.

Frederik Andersen is scheduled to fly to Toronto tomorrow to have his injured shoulder examined by #leafs.

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) September 2, 2016

He’ll be evaluated by the team back in Toronto and things will progress from there. The good news is that the regular season is still over a month away, and Andersen’s injury would have to be pretty severe to keep him out of action for the blue and white.

If he does have to miss time during the NHL season, the Leafs have backup Jhonas Enroth.

Enroth may be smaller than the typical starting goaltender in the NHL, but he makes saves at 5v5. More than anything, you want your goalie to make saves. Can Enroth handle a huge workload? That’s unknown, but he can certainly hold down the fort while Frederik Andersen heals.

The 2016-2017 season wasn’t expected to be a contending one so there’s really no loss here other than not getting to see Andersen right away.

After Frederik Andersen gets back in Toronto we’ll know more, but missing the World Cup of Hockey isn’t much of a concern for the organization. On a positive spin, it’s better he gets hurt in a qualifying game against Slovenia now as opposed to a World Cup game a week before the season starts.