Former second-round pick to miss time at Maple Leafs camp with concussion

Gambrell, 27, seemed to have suffered the injury during practice on Tuesday, but there is no confirmation as to the specifics of what caused it. There’s no information on the severity of the injury or timeline for return as of yet, but he will at least miss some of the next few games in the preseason and it wouldn’t be surprising if he misses the start of the regular season.

Gambrell had only gotten into one preseason game so far, playing in Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators. He finished the night with a 57.1% faceoff win percentage, a penalty drawn, a shot blocked, two shot attempts on net with one being a scoring chance, a 55.56% 5v5 shot attempt share and a 48.36% 5v5 expected goal share in 12:06 of ice time while mostly playing on a line with Matthew Knies and Sam Lafferty. Due to the tight competition for so few depth roster spots up front and the Leafs’ cap restrictions, the injury likely means that Gambrell will start his season with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL when he gets healthy.

Gambrell is coming off one of his more productive seasons by his standards, as he had four goals, six assists and 10 points in 60 games with the Ottawa Senators last year. It was the third time in his six-season NHL career that he’s surpassed the 10-point mark and also the second time he’s played 60 games or more in a season in his career.

Gambrell was a former second-round pick of the San Jose Sharks in 2016 and spent the first four seasons of his career with the Sharks. After starting the 2021-22 season in the AHL, the Sharks traded Gambrell to the Senators for a seventh-round pick within the first month of the season and Gambrell spent the next two campaigns on their NHL roster before he went to free agency in 2023 after the Sens elected not to give him a qualifying offer.

Gambrell is currently on a one-year, $775,000 contract with the Maple Leafs, which he signed in the offseason in hopes of making the team out of training camp.