Toronto Maple Leafs: Matthews provides update on when he will return

Auston Matthews gave Toronto Maple Leafs fans some good news on Thursday, in respect of his expected return date from injury.

The United States are currently celebrating Thanksgiving South of the border. However, Toronto Maple Leafs fans have also been given at least some reason to be thankful on Thursday.

Auston Matthews has provided an update on his recovery from a left shoulder injury. He is making excellent progress, and we now have a clearer indication of when he will actually return to action.

The update was reported by TSN‘s Mark Masters. Matthews said:

"“(I) definitely want to get into at least one practice where it’s kind of full go and I’m bumping into guys and making sure everything’s stable.”More from Toronto Maple LeafsMaple Leafs Rumours: Half of NHL teams interested in Ilya MikheyevToronto Maple Leafs: How to address the goaltender positionLeafs reward Timothy Liljegren with extension after breakout seasonMaple Leafs: Jack Campbell situation becoming increasingly uncertainJason Spezza retires, joins Toronto Maple Leafs front office"

In theory, this is excellent news for the Leafs and their fans. However, there are a couple of qualifiers.

First of all, the Leafs don’t practice again until Tuesday of next week. This means that Matthews will miss at least three more games for the team.

The second qualifier relates to how the two-time All-Star’s shoulder actually responds to a more physical practice. As you’d expect, the team will remain cautious with the young superstar and have the final say on when he can actually return to the ice.

Regardless, the earliest Leafs fans can expect to see Matthews play is next Wednesday, in a home game against the San José Sharks. However, while this provisional return date is right in line with the original prognosis of a four-week recovery period, don’t be surprised if his return is delayed further.

It helps that during the absence of the 21-year-old, the team has proven how strong and deep they are. There was an initial blip with two consecutive losses, but since then the Buds have won seven of nine games, including an extremely impressive 5-0 dismantling of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Of course, while the Leafs have done just fine without Matthews, they would still prefer to have him in the lineup. With him on the ice, their win percentage and goals scored average has been better. (72.7 percent versus 63.6 percent and 3.7 versus 3.2 percent respectively.)

When the 2016 first overall draft pick does finally play, Leafs fans can only hope he quickly returns to the scintillating form he showed prior to his shoulder issue. And he will also aim to disprove the (unfair) narrative that he is injury-prone.

Do you have any concern about Matthews being injury-prone? Or are you confident he will play the majority of the rest of this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.