Matthews a step closer to returning
Another step forward for Auston Matthews, but don’t count on seeing the Toronto Maple Leafs centre in a game just yet.
Matthews again practised with his Leafs teammates on Thursday afternoon, this time at Nationwide Arena, though he remained in a red non-contact sweater.
Matthews will need to have at least one practice where he is in a regular sweater, and that would not come until Tuesday at the earliest, so he is going to miss at least the next three games.
Saturday will mark four weeks since Matthews suffered a left shoulder injury in a game against the Winnipeg Jets.
“It’s my body — when I’m feeling good, ready for contact, I think I will know,” Matthews said. “Definitely want to get in at least one practice where it’s full go and bumping into guys and making sure everything is stable.
“I think conditioning is there. I hate doing (hard skating after teammates are off the ice). It’s what you have to do stay in shape and get your legs back and your lungs, so I have been really pushing it from that standpoint.
“Out there today, I thought the pace … when you’re not in a team setting for quite a while, you feel a little lost, a little out of rhythm. But I thought it picked up there at the end.”
The Leafs were short one player at practice. Forward Zach Hyman was not on the ice because he was given a maintenance day, but Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said Hyman was fine, an indication Hyman will be in the lineup when the Leafs visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.
Despite losing 5-2 in Raleigh against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night, the Leafs generally have put themselves in Babcock’s good books as the calendar hit U.S. Thanksgiving. And no wonder — Toronto’s record of 15-7-0 has the team in third place overall in the National Hockey League standings.
“Obviously, ecstatic,” Babcock said. “Any way you look at it, we got off to a good start and we think our team is going to get better. We have significant pieces not here and they will be here. So we will be a deeper team. But in the meantime, we have been allowed to grow players and create depth in the organization, which is important.
“I think the more depth you can have, the more chance you have to have success long-term at playoff time, but also in the tougher parts of the schedule when you are playing a lot of games in short period of time, the more depth you have, the more success you are going to have.”
And yes, we caught that — the only two pieces “not here” are Matthews and William Nylander.
The Dec. 1 deadline to sign Nylander is approaching quickly, but perhaps Babcock is confident that the 22-year-old Swede indeed will be signed in the next nine days.
On Matthews’ progress, Babcock said: “He is not ready. So there is no timeline here yet. There is no sense rushing him back. When he gets back, he has to be in shape, has to be ready physically and mentally. When it’s time, he will play.”