News from the Rink: Updates on the status of injured Leafs

After coming off a road trip in California, which saw the Leafs get the sweep (for the first time since 2018), they’re back in Toronto.

It’s been a day of returns for some Leafs who’ve been out for some time due to injury. One is @Ilya Mikheyev, and the other is @Petr Mrazek. @Ondrej Kase, however, was absent once again from practice.

He’s missed the last two games due to an upper-body injury.

Starting with Mikheyev, he’s been out since training camp after suffering a broken thumb. The 27-year-old skated before practice at Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday.

Mikheyev is on week seven of his recovery, which means he may return to full practices (or maybe even game action) very soon.

Back on October 14th vs. Ottawa, Mrázek suffered a groin injury which had him out for until the end of October. The 29-year-old returned to the net, re-aggravated his groin injury, and then was placed on IR retroactive to November 4th.

Mrázek did join the Leafs on their California road trip, where the 29-year-old skated. Today, though, was his first full practice with the Leafs.

He was expected to miss four weeks, which would put his timeline to return on December 2nd. That’s in two days.

Sheldon Keefe said after Tuesday’s practice that Mrázek will get into a few games with the Marlies (on a conditioning stint), before re-joining the Leafs.

The Leafs play tomorrow, and then a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday. The Marlies play a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday, too. That will likely be when Mrázek gets into a game in the AHL.

If you remember, Toronto did the same with @Frederik Andersen last season. He started and played in half of one game, and then played a full game a few days later. In terms of Mrázek, we might see him play one half of Saturday’s game, and then possibly a full game on Sunday.

Keefe said that Woll will backup Campbell on Wednesday vs. Colorado. It’s likely that he may even get one more Leafs start this weekend.

Once Woll does return to the AHL, the 23-year-old joins a Marlies team which also had Erik Källgren return to practice on Tuesday after suffering a concussion. @Ian Scott was also an active participant in their practices last week.

One of the more interesting things that happened this afternoon was @Joey Anderson getting placed on the Leafs’ third line.

Anderson was called up late last night. In return, the Leafs loaned @Kirill Semyonov back to the Marlies. Keefe confirmed after practice on Tuesday that Anderson will play on Wednesday night.

This is a good addition to the third line because Anderson has the ability to be good at both ends of the rink. The 23-year-old can produce, but also be effective in the defensive zone. It’s the right fit for a player who’s coming into replace Kaše. Anderson might not produce as much as Kaše, but he fits the style of that line.

@Wayne Simmonds, who’s been playing very well recently, will return to the Leafs fourth line. @Kyle Clifford, who played against Anaheim on Sunday, was not in the line rushes.

And after Keefe went with @Travis Dermott over @Timothy Liljegren on the last game of the road trip, it looks like the Leafs coach is sticking with that for tomorrow.

Toronto takes on the Colorado Avalanche at Scotiabank Arena. It will feature the return of @Nathan MacKinnon, who’s missed the last eight games due to a lower-body injury.

Puck drop tomorrow night is at 7:30 PM ET.