Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev participated in an individual session during Saturday’s practice. Tanev skated on a separate pad, away from the main group on Saturday.
Head coach Craig Berube previously indicated that Tanev could potentially rejoin the team this season, after assessing how he skates through the week. Tanev was previously believed to be considering season-ending surgery for a groin injury.
“I think it is still early to talk about whether he is joining us here, but he seems pretty good,” Berube said of Tanev following Thursday’s practice. “Again, it will still be a day or two until we figure out if he is going to join us with the team. We’ll see. We’ll talk to him and see if he can get there by the weekend, but I am not sure yet.”
With Matthews, Nylander and Ekman-Larsson all unavailable, the lines at Saturday’s practice operated as placeholders. Easton Cowan primarily skated in place of Matthews with Bobby McMann and Max Domi on the wings, via line rushes posted by David Alter of The Hockey News. Calle Jarnkrok skated in Nylander’s normal place on the second line right wing, alongside Matias Maccelli and John Tavares.
Joseph Woll returned to practice after missing a previous session due to illness.
Maple Leafs’ lines
Bobby McMann-Easton Cowan-Max Domi
Matias Maccelli-John Tavares-Calle Jarnkrok
Matthew Knies-Nicolas Roy-Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz-Scott Laughton-Dakota Joshua
Morgan Rielly-Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe-Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit-Philippe Myers
Joseph Woll
Anthony Stolarz