The newly expanded Maple Leafs’ medical team and Joffrey Lupul are a match made in hockey heaven.

No Toronto player in recent memory has been in the repair shop as often as Lupul, the winger emerging from his latest five-game layoff with the intent of playing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday.

At a time when the NHL’s treatment of injured players is in the spotlight, specifically those concussed in the previous generation, Toronto big-footed most other clubs with new hirings and titles. They include director of sports science and performance Dr. Jeremy Bettle and director of rehabilitation Ryan Morrison, as well as two strength and conditioning coaches and a nutritionist.

Media, fans and even a couple of other clubs have poked fun at the lengthy list of experts, but Lupul, bothered by a lower-body injury he tried to play through, is very grateful they were looking out for him. He hasn’t made it through a full season without some kind of calamity since 2008-09 for Philadelphia.

Many of those injuries were flukes, including a blood infection, but some he attributed to wear and tear, the most serious being the back surgery that preceded the blood disorder.

“This has been the first time in my career someone has come to me and said ‘we think you should get off the ice’,” Lupul said of the decision after the Nov. 28 game against the Capitals. “Usually, you play until that injury happens. We think we avoided a major injury by taking a week off, but we’ll see.

“These guys have done a great job, it’s really forward thinking compared to the kind of old mentality of hockey. I can’t speak for other sports and teams, but this one is a pretty good unit of therapists, chiropractors and injury prevention guys. They’re going above and beyond here for sure.”

Lupul was on a decent run of eight points in 15 games and feeling more like his old self after getting just 21 in 55 appearances last season. And with new coach Mike Babcock still sizing up so many Leafs, the decision to shut down for a couple of weeks wasn’t an easy one to agree upon with the medical staff.

“This was something I was playing through for awhile,” the 32-year-old said. “This was the ideal time to sit (with this current week-long hiatus in the schedule working in the Leafs’ favour).

“You look at it from a dollars-and-cents standpoint from the team. You keep a guy on the ice a few more days, it’s worth it. At the end of the season, if (that approach) saves our team even one game a player, that’s huge.

“It seems like a no-brainer, but there’s always been an old-school mentality around it. I’m sure other teams will be following suit with us.”

With the standings so close, all teams on the bubble fear coming down to the final week with spent horses and possibly missing the playoffs by a point or two. While that might not include the Leafs this spring, Babcock is thinking long-term. He had a say in many of the hirings Lupul praised.

“We’re in a situation in Toronto where we thought we should have the best sports science team in the league,” the coach said. “We have all the resources, all the opportunity to maximize that and be cutting edge. That won’t show up in the scoresheet as much as it will in the long term with our kids and the Marlies.”

Lupul added that his union brethren can always seek a second opinion if concerned their injury could be problematic.

“At the end of the day, through the NHLPA, you’re well within your rights to go and see another guy. Once I had the infection, I sought a lot of different opinions. Typically, you will trust the team, especially if you’re a young guy. But there’s no harm in seeking a second opinion, showing your film to a different set of eyes that might see something else.”

Lupul will skate on his own Friday while the Leafs take one of two weekend dates off. Working with skating instructor Barb Underhill before the main group this week, Lupul hopes to participate in full workouts by Monday at the latest.