Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe participated in Tuesday’s after being held out of the lineup on Monday for precautionary reasons.

McCabe took a puck to the side of his head during Saturday’s win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and left the game early. Head coach Craig Berube initially said the blueliner would be fine and not miss any time but the tight turnaround likely forced them to change their course at the last minute.

Philippe Myers filled in for the game and he did fairly well apart from a blunder that led to Chicago’s only goal of the night. With Jani Hakanpaa being placed on IR with a lower-body injury, Myers now slots in as the No. 7 defenceman and should be in for more looks as the season progresses. Toronto preferred not to place him on waivers and took a creative approach to keeping him around through a conditioning loan a few weeks ago.

Ryan Reaves has completed his five-game suspension and it appears he will be right back in the lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Nashville Predators. He received his suspension due to a hit to the head of Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse that was called a match penalty on the play.

Reaves’ reinstatement likely means Alex Nylander is coming out of the lineup Wednesday. Nylander showed flashes of his offensive potential and filled in admirably as the Leafs were ravaged by injuries up front. At the same time, the younger Nylander has not done enough to secure his spot and also took a bad penalty against the Blackhawks. Once more regulars return to the fold it appears likely that he will be placed on waivers for assignment to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.

Nylander was not the only Leaf to be practicing in a grey sweater as both Max Domi and Max Pacioretty participated in Tuesday’s practice. The two players were involved in the morning skate before the Leafs’ game against the Blackhawks which was the first time they skated since being placed on IR with lower-body injuries.

Berube provided an update on the two following the skate on Monday and told reporters Domi is closer to returning than Pacioretty. He added on Tuesday that while they are making strides both won’t play on Wednesday.

“Domi is close. He will skate tomorrow, and I think he will push it more tomorrow. We will see where he is at,” he said. “Pacioretty is probably a little ways away yet, but he is skating, which is good to see.”

Domi is already eligible to be taken off IR and it will be up to him and the team if he can make his return for Wednesday’s contest. Pacioretty won’t be back for quite some time but the fact he is back on the ice is an encouraging sign that his recovery is heading in the right direction. It remains to be seen if he is back in action before the calendar flips to 2025 but his absence will be weeks and not months.

Here are the lines that were used at practice via The Toronto Sun’s Terry Koshan:

The major change to the forward lines is Reaves-Nylander swap, which results in Steven Lorentz moving up to the third line. The top-six stay intact and that is the right call given how well they have done in their last two games so Berube has no reason to make some adjustments at this time.

By contrast, the defence will see some significant changes as Philippe Myers remains in the rotation, while Conor Timmins is a projected scratch. While he has done well through the first quarter of the season, Timmins’ recent play has given some room to give Myers some reps, and it’s not a bad idea to keep the defence fresh. McCabe is reunited with Chris Tanev and Morgan Rielly slots back with Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Joseph Woll is in line to get the nod for the game against the Predators and it makes sense given the Leafs can finally use their tandem rotation as initially envisioned. Anthony Stolarz was the MVP of their last game and gets a well-earned night off while Woll looks to build off his strong game against the Lightning over the weekend.