Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews and forward Nicolas Roy both skated prior to Thursday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Matthews and Roy were both previously ruled out due to injuries, but are progressing well in their recoveries.

Matthews resumed skating on Tuesday, and this was his third consecutive day on the ice. hasn’t played since sustaining a lower-body injury against the Boston Bruins on November 11. Toronto’s captain was hit by Nikita Zadorov and appeared to sustain an injury when throwing a retaliatory hit against the Bruins’ defenceman.

“It’s good to see him out there with us,” Berube said of Matthews following Thursday’s morning skate. “Just talking to him, he’s feeling a lot better and I thought he was shooting the puck a lot better, so that’s a good sign.”

Berube did not provide a timeline for Matthews’ return, and it appears unlikely that he’ll play Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.

Arun Srinivasan

@Arunthings

·Follow

Auston Matthews is on the ice for the third consecutive day, won’t play tonight vs. Blue Jackets. Matthews and Nicolas Roy were on the ice early prior to the Leafs’ official skate.

Watch on X

3:21 PM · Nov 20, 2025

Read 1 reply

Calle Jarnkrok was promoted to the Maple Leafs’ first line, skating alongside William Nylander and John Tavares at Thursday’s morning skate. Jarnkrok also received reps on the first power play unit, with Nylander, Tavares, Easton Cowan and Morgan Rielly.

“It’s kind of hard to say,” Jarnkrok said when asked to assess his season thus far. “I played a couple of games, a couple in the stands. I thought I had a pretty solid start.”

“He’s a valuable guy,” Berube said of Jarnkrok. “He does a lot of things out there, night in, night out that go unnoticed, that we notice that maybe you guys don’t, or the fans. He’s a good penalty killer, he’s a hard worker, he does a lot of little things right all over the ice. And he can complement any line in certain ways, he’s valuable.”

Scott Laughton will return to the lineup, after suffering a lower-body injury against the Boston Bruins on November 8. Laughton took a high hit from Nikita Zadorov, and did not return to the contest. Toronto placed Laughton on injured reserve on November 13, and the team is expected to activate the veteran centre prior to Thursday’s game.

“I honestly thought he was backing up when I took a peek,” Laughton said Thursday. “He stepped up, I lost the puck a little bit and he’s 6-foot-7, so there’s going to be some contact there and he got the best of me. I had more of an issue with a couple of his other hits in Boston, but yeah, I thought it was a clean hit.”

Laughton said he did not receive an apology from Zadorov, nor did he want one. During the morning skate, Laughton was paired with Easton Cowan and Steven Lorentz.

“We’ve chatted about it already a little bit this morning, I’m just going to find that again and continue to talk,” Laughton said when asked about his chemistry with Lorentz and Cowan from preseason. “I’ve been playing with Stevie [Lorentz] since I got here, Cowboy [Easton Cowan] has been playing with a lot of energy, and we’ve got to continue that.”

Joseph Woll is the projected starter for Thursday’s game. Anthony Stolarz did not participate in practice, and Berube revealed that his injury is more serious than initially believed.

Arun Srinivasan

@Arunthings

·Follow

Craig Berube on Anthony Stolarz's injury: "Obviously, worse than we thought. He's not ready to get on the ice yet and do the things that he needs to. Hopefully soon, I don't have a timetable." Berube rules out a setback: "We weren't sure at the time about the seriousness of it."

4:34 PM · Nov 20, 2025

Read 5 replies