Craig Berube revealed today during team practice that Jake McCabe was not fully healthy and would unfortunately be out of the lineup for tonight's game. The Toronto Maple Leafs will not have defenceman Jake McCabe in the lineup against the Nashville Predators. After taking part in practice on Tuesday and saying he felt fine after speaking with reporters, McCabe won't play. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/lukefoxjukebox/status/1864339356061728952'> </a></blockquote></div> Coach Craig Berube said the veteran blueliner wasn't feeling well enough to take part and the team was taking a cautious approach by giving him one more game off. This cautious approach comes on the heels of McCabe suffering a scary injury in Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1864340956410982869'> </a></blockquote></div> <a href='https://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/defence-hurting-with-mccabe-out' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>The 31-year-old took a slapshot to the side of the head</a> in that one and was held out of Monday's affair with the Chicago Blackhawks as a precaution. McCabe has five assists in 23 games so far this season, playing a reliable role on the Maple Leafs' blue line. With McCabe going out, the team will have to realign the D-pairs. They appear to go back to the combo from Monday with Oliver Ekman-Larsson paired with Chris Tanev and Phillippe Myers skating with Morgan Rielly. That of course opens up a spot and changes plans on Conor Timmins, who was going to be a scratch. Timmins will skate with Simon Benoit in the D rotation. As much as these changes bring on the depth and grit of the team, they also bring on value in McCabe. It's imperative he keeps recovering while the Leafs hope to cope without him and preserve the usual solidity at the back against Nashville.