Latest John Tavares injury update is huge for the Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been missing an integral part to their lineup for way too long and they might finally get him back in the coming days.

John Tavares, despite having a somewhat middling start to his season, is really the glue that holds the Leafs' depth scoring together. While Auston Matthews and whoever he is playing with on the top line has been excelling at scoring a whole lot of goals, Tavares locks down the offensive minutes when Matthews is not on the ice.

That has been missing since Tavares got tangled up with Sabres forward Josh Norris on Oct. 15 and suffered a lower-body injury. But thankfully, we finally have some good news on that front.

John Tavares' injury status upgraded, still in non-contact sweater

At Leafs morning skate on Tuesday, as they get ready to host the Utah Mammoth, Tavares was seen on the ice wearing a non-contact sweater. He's now been seen on the ice a couple times as he makes his way back to full health. And speaking of that, his official status was upgraded to day-to-day by the Leafs.

Thankfully, it wasn't just a skate around like we've seen earlier this week with Tavares. He was a participant in the morning skate with his teammates.

That's just good to see. Tavares' arrival back to the Leafs lineup should be massive, even if he is in a different role.

He won't be back on Tuesday night of course, but with the Leafs' next games happening in a back-to-back this weekend against the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils at home, then that might be a possible return of the former captain.

Tavares' return to the Leafs should secure some offense

Heading into Tuesday's game against the Mammoth, it is projected that the second forward line is going to be Nick Paul centering William Nylander and Dakota Joshua. Now, even though in his return on Saturday night, Joshua looked good and made some plays, there is no reason for him to be considered one of your six best forwards or four best wingers.

It would be surprising if Tavares was anywhere but on that second line when he does return to the Leafs, but where is debatable. Maybe, head coach Jim Hiller likes what Nick Paul has been doing as Tavares' replacement and keeps him on the second line, as Tavares joins Paul and Nylander with the two centers rotating in and out of the position depending on how they're feeling.

Or, Paul could get then demoted to the third line and actually provide Gavin McKenna -- if he is not then moved back to Tavares' wing -- more of a scoring threat to work with than Colton Sissons and Vinni Lettieri.

No matter how Hiller makes his lineup when Tavares is back, there is no doubting that he makes Toronto a much better and much more dangerous team offensively. His absence has been noted several times after the Leafs kept on dropping games that they really shouldn't be dropping.

Through seven games this season, Tavares has scored two goals and seven points while averaging a career-low 16:31 time-on-ice.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow