Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was a full participant in Monday’s practice, his first full session since aggravating an upper-body injury during a December 20 game against the Buffalo Sabres, but has been ruled out of Tuesday’s game against the New York Islanders.

Matthews was fully engaged in drills and skated before the session started. Toronto’s star centre also skated prior to Saturday’s game against the Washington Capitals in an individual session, designed around skating and shooting drills.

“It was good to see Auston out there skating with us. “That was a good sign. I think everybody is excited about him being out there too,” Berube said via Nick Barden of The Hockey News. “He did a good job in practice today I thought and I think he feels pretty good.”

Berube said Saturday that Matthews was feeling better and was making good progress. It appears likely that Matthews may only return for the second week of January, as the team exercises caution around their superstar forward.

Matthews has recorded 11 goals and 23 points in 24 games. He aggravated his upper-body injury against the Buffalo Sabres, where he was cross-checked by Sabres defenceman Dennis Gilbert. Matthews has missed Toronto’s past four games, and has missed 13 games overall due to the injury.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson also missed practice due to an illness. Ekman-Larsson has recorded one goal and 13 points in 37 games this season, providing some physicality and offensive skill to a new-look Maple Leafs’ blue line.

Toronto has largely weathered the storm without Matthews, with 75 goals at 5-on-5 on the year, the 13th-best mark in the NHL, but that’s in large part due to William Nylander, John Tavares and Mitch Marner elevating their games. It’s unclear if Matthews will return Tuesday and while caution may be the best course of action, if he’s healthy, he will be welcomed back with open arms.