Marchenko Back; McCabe Out — The Blue Line Giveth and Taketh Away

Kirill Marchenko is available again after his day-to-day stint, which is the good news. The bad news arrived alongside it: Jake McCabe is out, dropping Toronto's defensive depth chart to a place where Dakota Mermis is the second option behind Darren Raddysh. That's a thin ledge to stand on for a team that has allowed 3.1 goals per game over its last 10 — a genuine improvement from the 4.0 it was surrendering before that stretch, but one that was already being produced with a patchwork group.

Marchenko's return matters more on the right wing than it does for the blue line conversation, but it's worth noting that his presence at least stabilizes the forward group at a moment when the defense is losing bodies. The depth chart behind Raddysh has been a concern all season, and McCabe's absence makes it acute again. Mermis has produced almost nothing in his time on the ice, and there's no obvious internal solution waiting behind him.

The Tanev upper-body injury from the Colorado game is still unresolved in terms of timeline, and Ekman-Larsson has been day-to-day long enough that his availability is no longer something to count on nightly. Toronto's defensive corps, such as it is, keeps getting asked to do more with less. The 3.1 goals-against number has been real — I've noted that across the last couple of weeks — but McCabe going down is exactly the kind of roster event that makes you wonder how long a shorthanded group can sustain it.