UPDATED: Jake Dotchin has been suspended for three games.

With Syracuse leading two games to none, Dotchin will miss Games 3 and 4 of the teams’ North Division Finals playoff series tonight (May 9) and Wednesday (May 10), as well as either Game 5 of the series on Saturday (May 13) or Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

Tell us how you feel over here in the rant post.

In game two of the Toronto Marlies second round series versus the Syracuse Crunch, Lightning injury machine Jake Dotchin hit Frederik Gauthier late in the play:

Dotchin has a habit of taking out Maple Leafs: He injured Kasperi Kapanen for several weeks and then tried to take out Austin Matthews with a knee-on-knee hit.

See the full range of Dotchin’s hits on the Leafs and the Marlies

This time, his plans were victorious. He took out Frederik Gauthier, a centre in a system where quality at that position is in short supply. According to reports, Gauthier is out for six months after having surgery on the leg that Dotchin injured.

Henny says that Brett Findlay will take over the empty spot on the Marlies. Findlay split the season with Toronto and Orlando, 10G, 14A in the AHL and 10G, 23A in the ECHL.

This injury will take Gauthier until November at the earliest to come back from. This means he will miss training camp in the fall, where he could have made a big impact to secure that fourth line centre position that could be left vacant if Brian Boyle leaves as a free agent. Now Gauthier is losing playoff games, summer training, rookie and main camp, and the start of the season.  Quite a setback.

2017 Toronto Maple Leafs depth chart

The Maple Leafs will need to invest in some centres. Will Adam Brooks make the Marlies? He’s currently dealing with his own injuries this post-season. Is free agency an option? Questions we’ll tackle as the summer goes on.

The AHL is reviewing Dotchin’s hit for possible supplementary discipline. If any news comes through we’ll update this story.

Toronto Marlies