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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO — Frederik Andersen didn’t want to throw in the towel. It was his body that wouldn’t cooperate.

The Maple Leafs’ netminder knew after his last start on March 19 that the nagging knee injury he’d been dealing with was more than just an annoyance. It had started to hurt his play, and that simply couldn’t continue. So Andersen was shut down completely, in the hopes that a prolonged period away would get him back to 100 per cent.

It's been a long road ever since, but Andersen was finally able to participate in a full practice on Monday and is feeling good about his decision to step away.

“I reached a point where I just couldn’t feel comfortable in the net and pushing and stopping as hard as I needed to be aggressive,” Andersen said. “And it showed. It’s really hard to say stop. As a player and a competitor, you don’t want to admit it or say stop yourself. It was maybe going on for a little too long and I was just happy I caught it and it didn’t get any worse.”

Andersen said the physical strain of playing goal continually exacerbated his knee issue, making it impossible to ignore.

“Because of my position, there’s some stressful areas that my body gets into and that creates problems that were happening,” Andersen said. “But I caught it and got it fixed before it could have gotten any worse. So I’m relieved that it's going in the right direction, and turning towards getting back on the ice full time.”

Toronto's starter missed four games in late February with the lower-body issue, returning to the net on March 3 in a 6-1 win over Edmonton. It was after that victory when Andersen’s game began to crack. He went 1-5-0 in his next six appearances, recording an .862 save percentage and 3.84 goals-against average. During his last start on March 19 against Calgary, Andersen gave up four goals on 18 shots in yet another loss.

He was introspective afterwards, perhaps foreshadowing the difficult direction he would undertake from there.

“I know personally, I didn’t lose my abilities to play good,” Andersen said post-game. “It’s just a matter of putting it together. It starts with me looking inward.”

The Leafs announced the following day that Andersen would be unavailable as the backup behind Jack Campbell in the rematch with Calgary due to the injury.

Andersen took several weeks off the ice entirely from there, and just recently began skating with goalie coach Steve Briere. He was able to join the Leafs on their road trip last week, jumping in sporadically and facing shots from players at the end of the practices.

Those moments helped sustain Andersen as he continued to grind through rehab.

“It’s been difficult,” Andersen said. “It’s been a challenging year for sure with the [injury] stuff, and I think just being with the group and being back out there today was huge and been a big boost in my mood. Going on the road was great for that too, getting out of the condo and not just being by myself. I was happy with that.”

Now that he’s able to practise again fully, Andersen’s focus will shift to both managing any lingering pain and building up his stamina.

“Getting back up to speed again, that’s the first challenge,” he said. “When you don’t skate and see pucks for a bit, that’s the final thing and the deciding factor [to play again]. I have some time to get back up to speed again and hopefully see some games before playoffs.”

Time is running out on the regular season though, with Toronto having just eight games left before the postseason begins. While Andersen would love to dress in a few of those contests, he maintains that managing the injury “day-by-day” is his top concern.

That also trumps any worries over this being a contract year. The 31-year-old is slated to become an unrestricted free agent in July, and has appeared in only 23 games with a 13-8-2 record and .897 save percentage this season.

Those aren’t the high-calibre figures Andersen probably envisioned riding into negotiations for his next deal. But he’s not hurting for confidence on that front.

“I know what I'm worth and I'm a great goalie, so I don't think that's really at the forefront,” he said. “I think the biggest part of what we’ve got going on here is with the team and I think we have a really special opportunity to do something special this year. The biggest motivator for me is just being part of that.”

Toronto currently holds an eight-point cushion at the top of the North Division standings. The team got there with the help of strong goaltending from Campbell, who the Leafs have leaned heavily on in Andersen’s absence.

Over the 18 games Andersen has missed so far, Campbell has gone 10-2-1, with a .915 save percentage and 2.43 goals-against average. Campbell also set a new NHL record this season for most wins to start a season (11-0-0).

In addition to Campbell’s contributions, Toronto has also tapped Michael Hutchinson (1-0-1, .912 save percentage) and David Rittich (0-1-1, .877 save percentage) to get them through without Andersen.

Coach Sheldon Keefe would love to have Andersen as an option sooner than later, but won’t force the issue.

“It would be that would be great for us, but our focus is just to go through this process to get Fred feeling comfortable,” Keefe said. “We’re getting [him] ready for game action whenever that is. He’s been going along the path and we'll make a plan for him when such a time that he himself is ready to go and feels comfortable.”