There is no good time for a player to get injured.

But the broken left wrist that will keep Wayne Simmonds out of the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup for the next six weeks seems particularly cruel given that the 32-year-old winger had just started finding his footing with a new team.

Not only had Simmonds recently been bumped up alongside John Tavares and William Nylander on the Leafs second line, but he was mere minutes removed from scoring his fifth goal in 12 games when an Alex Edler clearing attempt struck him above his glove during Saturday’s 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Wrong place, wrong time -- and a freak injury for a guy who has battled more than his fair share of them in recent years.

“Simmer’s a big loss for us,” coach Sheldon Keefe said Monday. “He’s been playing well, [but he’s missed] not just with his play. He brings a lot to our room in a lot of other areas. That certainly will be missed.”

In the short term, they’ll replace him by committee with only 11 forwards dressing for the finale vs. Vancouver. That allows Rasmus Sandin to get his first game action in 335 days as the seventh defenceman, but also opens the door to cycle Jimmy Vesey, Ilya Mikheyev and others through the open spot on the Tavares/Nylander pairing.

Big picture, the Wayne Train can’t be replaced by one teammate.

He’s a net-front nuisance on the power play and a high-end producer in that role. He’s a willing combatant when the gloves need to be dropped and leaves the Leafs short in that area even with Sunday’s signing of Scott Sabourin for depth. And he’s scored more goals for the team this season than anyone not named Auston Matthews or Mitch Marner.

“That’s a guy that you can’t fill his shoes,” said defenceman T.J. Brodie. “On the power play, in front of the net, he’s so good at what he does.”

“He brings a lot to our room and to a lot of other areas, but it’s opportunities for other people,” Keefe told reporters. “That process begins today.”

Until Thornton is ready to return, Jimmy Vesey could slide into that second line role after he’s had some success on the third line. The fourth line of Travis Boyd, Jason Spezza and Nic Petan has been sharp so they likely won’t shuffle that around. Keefe also commented on Monday he’d like to see more from Vesey, so perhaps there’s an entire reshuffle.

On the power play, both Ilya Mikheyev and Zach Hyman should get an opportunity to play Simmonds’ netfront role.

For Monday, the Leafs will go with a seven-defenseman solution and play with 11 forwards. Rasmus Sandin makes his season debut, but Keefe also said he wouldn’t see a ton of time on Monday in the second game of the series with the Canucks. 온라인카지노

That’s a short-term solution anyways, and Simmonds will be out a lot longer than just Monday’s game. Thornton’s inevitable return will help, but until then, the Leafs have to ride out the storm.