Toronto Maple Leafs: Silver Lining to Nikolai Kulemin's Injury

On Thursday morning, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced via Twitter that forward Nikolai Kulemin is going to miss approximately three weeks with a broken finger sustained in Florida.

According to Jonas Siegel of TSN, Carter Ashton will take Kulemin's place beside Mikhail Grabovski and Matt Frattin.

Nobody wants to see players on their team go down, but there is a chance some good will come due to Kulemin's injury.

The Russian winger has struggled mightily in the points department, but his overall game has been relatively solid.

Losing him during a critical stretch of the season could prove to be the final nail in the coffin for the Leafs' playoff hopes.

Injury aside, this will be welcome news for any Leaf fan who has already abandoned any hope of a playoff appearance and has decided to cheer for a lottery pick instead.

As of this writing, the Leafs are 24th overall in the NHL and therefore own the seventh overall pick in the upcoming draft.

There is nothing to gain from winning any of the remaining games, not even pride. Pride went out the window when the team tanked to within one point of the Eastern Conference cellar.

Jonas Gustavsson is the better goalie for the Leafs right now, so it's time to give James Reimer some starts.

It's been a tough season for Reimer and he has not had a chance to settle down and show the coaches what he can do.

Looking down the stretch, there aren't any gimmes.

Today, the Leafs will face 50-goal scorer Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Saturday, they'll be in Ottawa against the Senators.

Next week will feature a pair of back-to-backs.

Let's not forget Joffrey Lupul is still recovering from a separated shoulder and will be out for at least a couple weeks.

The season doesn't look like it's going to get better for the Leafs and that's great news for Toronto fans at this point.