Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz may be returning to the lineup sooner than expected.

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters Friday that Stolarz is ‘probably ahead’ of schedule in his return from a knee injury. Stolarz was originally expected to return for the end of January, after suffering the injury on December 12 against the Anaheim Ducks. He underwent a procedure to remove a loose body in his knee, and was a partial participant in Friday’s practice.

“I don’t think it will be a whole lot longer,” Berube said via The Athletic’s Joshua Kloke.

TSN’s Darren Dreger provided an update on the Leafs’ star netminder Friday morning, reporting an optimistic timeline of within a week if all goes well for Stolarz.

“It seems like Stolarz is probably five to seven days away. So inside a week, I would say, away from the expected return,” Dreger said. “ That pretty much aligns with what they suggested when he first went down and had the procedure. So that’s probably best case scenario is the next five to seven days.”

Getting Stolarz back would be a huge boost for the Leafs in the crease as while Joseph Woll has done his part weathering the storm, they have forced their backups to sit idle on the bench for long stretches of time. Dennis Hildeby was the backup for a few weeks and he struggled in his starts which also severely hampered his development prior to him being sent down to the Marlies on Thursday.

Stolarz was having a phenomenal season before suffering a lower-body injury, and he was placed on injured reserve. He posted a record of 9-5-2 along with a .927 SV%, a 2.15 GAA, and a shutout across 17 starts this year prior to his aforementioned ailment.

Matt Murray will fill in as the new backup in the interim, which Dreger notes will help give Woll some and Murray the chance to prove he still has what it takes to be effective in the NHL.

“It gives them the opportunity to give Joe Woll some rest. You can’t hang the woes of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dennis Hildeby, but it sure looks like Dennis Hildeby needs more time in the American League, doesn’t it,” Dreger said. “ That’s not an indictment on his game or developmentally where he is, but for what the Toronto Maple Leafs need right now, they definitely need somebody who they feel is capable of giving Joe Woll the rest that he’s going to need moving forward here.  Matt Murray will come in motivated. He will. He’s had a real good run with the Toronto Marlies so let’s see if that can translate at the NHL level.”

If Dreger’s report ends up ringing true, then Murray’s second stint with the Leafs this season may not last that long. Having said that, Toronto will want to make sure Stolarz is back to full-strength and that means it will take some time before the team returns to the rotation. Regardless of how long before that happens, Murray will look to make the most of it and he should be playing more free-flowing this time around.

In addition to the health status of the goalies, the Leafs lost two of their top-six forwards in quick success with Matthew Knies and John Tavares suffering injuries. Dreger noted that Knies might not miss much time while Tavares’ return remains uncertain given he has not gone on the ice yet.

“If you look more recently here, Matthew Knies, you know, second top-six forward to leave in the last week,” Dreger said about Knies. “This doesn’t sound horrible.  And I hesitate a bit to err on the side of caution because really that’s what the Maple Leafs have done all season long right? With all of their players,  it’s just make sure that that player is as close to 100 percent as he can be before he’s back into the mix. But the messaging yesterday, although not technical, was that it’s probably only going to be a few to a handful of days for Matthew Knies. So that’s good news.”

“ No real clear timeline on John Tavares,” he added. “I think it’s not concerning because they were good in offering the prognosis. Until you see a guy step on the ice and begin skating, it’s really hard to get into that final evaluation of a timeline of when he’s expected to come back.  Tavares has not been out there as far as we know. We’re told that he hasn’t skated yet, so he hasn’t tested the knee. Until he does that, then I think the club is going to be hesitant to give it a two weeks, 10 days, three weeks, or whatever. So they’ve got to wait for him to skate and then they’ll work off that.”

The good news is that Knies may not miss too much time by the sounds, likely only going to be unavailable for their next game against the Ottawa Senators given the one after that is on Wednesday against the Minnesota Wild. This could play out similarly to how his last absence went where they take advantage of a gap in the schedule so that his absence isn’t as long game-wise.

As for Tavares, the fact he has not returned to the ice since his ailment suggests that he may not be back in action until after the 4 Nations Face-Off given there are only a few weeks left before the break. That means it is unlikely he will be joining the Leafs on their upcoming Western Canada road trip as they will prioritize him resting up at home.

No matter how long it ends up taking for Stolarz, Knies, and Tavares to return to action, the Leafs will have to carry on and step up in their absence. They will look to do so on Saturday when they face the Senators in our nation’s capital.