The Toronto Maple Leafs, who have lost five of their past six games and suddenly find themselves five points out of a wild-card spot, received some encouraging news when, on Saturday, January 24th, leading point scorer William Nylander and depth forward Joshua Dakota skated for about 20 minutes before Leafs practice.
While the presence of Nylander and Dakota on the ice is an encouraging sign for Leafs fans, no set timetable on when they can be back in action has been made official as the team heads into the final week of January, five-points out of a wildcard spot.
"Hopefully he'll get on the ice here this weekend," Berube said about Nylander after practice Saturday. "That's what I'm hoping and see where he's at. But I don't really have an update when he's going to play."
Nylander, who leads the Leafs with 48 points (17 goals, 31 assists) re-aggravated a lower body injury when back on January 15th during a wild 6-5 OT loss at T-Mobile Arena against the Vegas Golden Knights, he was shaken up moments after scoring a first -period goal. Before leaving in the first period, Nylander had already produced a goal and two points.
It's common knowledge among Leafs fans that if their team is to make the playoffs and engage on a deep post-season run, then Nylander, who has 279 career goals and 660 points in 722 games, needs to be the healthy dynamic scorer that he is.
Since being sidelined, the Leafs defeated the Winnipeg Jets 4-3 in OT before dropping three straight to the Minnesota Wild (6-3), Detroit Red Wings (2-1 OT) and, most recently, on Friday, January 23rd, at 6-3 decision against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Meanwhile, Dakota, who provides physicality and scoring depth, last played on December 28th, when, during a 3-2 OT loss at Little Caesars Arena, he suffered a lacerated kidney.
Berube recently stated that Joshua, who has so far missed the past 13 games, won't be back in the lineup anytime soon.
Back on July 17, 2025, Joshua was traded by the Vancouver Canucks to Toronto where in 36 games this season, he has scored six goals along with 10 points along with providing that physicality.
Things don't get any easier for the Leafs, who on Sunday, January 25th are at Scotiabank Arena for a 1:30 p.m. opening face-off against the first-place Colorado Avalanche.