What Happened At Maple Leafs Practice? Jani Hakanpaa Works On Conditioning, Oliver Ekman-Larsson Expected To Return Against Islanders And More

Although the big story out of Toronto Maple Leafs practice was captain Auston Matthews not providing a timeline for his return, the club received positive news with Oliver Ekman-Larsson's return to practice. Ekman-Larsson had been sidelined with a stomach bug, missing the club's 3-1 victory against the New York Islanders.

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube confirmed that the defenseman should be ready to play when the team faces the Islanders again at UBS Arena on Thursday.

Signed to a four-year, $14 million contract in the off-season, Ekman-Larsson has played in every game this season prior to Tuesday's contest. Lately, he has been rotating between playing alongside Morgan Rielly and Simon Benoit, averaging 20:59 of ice time per game while contributing to the team's second power-play unit. Larsson has one goal and 12 assists in 37 games.

Holmberg's status up in the air

Pontus Holmberg missed Tuesday's game with the same stomach bug as Ekman-Larsson, but unlike the defenseman, he was unable to get onto the ice for Wednesday's practice, leaving his status for Thursday's game in doubt.

"I expect him to come on the trip," Berube said of Holmberg. "That'll be a decision that we've got to make, get him on the ice and see how he feels."

Holmberg has been used at center recently as the club deals with Matthews' absence. On Tuesday, the Leafs moved Connor Dewar from wing to center and inserted Ryan Reaves into the lineup on the club's fourth line. The 25-year-old Holmberg has two goals and four assists in 32 games this season.

Maple Leafs defenseman Jani Hakanpaa spent over 30 minutes Wednesday working alone with player development coach Denver Manderson and skating consultant Michele Moore Davidson on a separate ice pad at Ford Performance Center before the rest of the team practiced.

The 6-foot-7 defenseman had his knee tested by pursuing a puck along the end boards and stopping before skating back and stopping in a repeated motion. The Leafs were clearly testing the player's progress since undergoing an additional procedure on his knee after playing just two games with the Leafs in mid-November.

When the Maple Leafs placed Matthews on injured reserve for roster purposes on Tuesday, they also placed Hakanpaa on long-term injured reserve because they were about $111,771 shy of having enough space to recall Marshall Rifai as an extra defenseman. The Finnish defenseman has already missed the required 10 games and 24 days since last playing on Nov. 16.

Named to Team Finland for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, Hakanpaa hopes to return to game action before then. He will need to participate in a full practice first, but there is currently no timetable for when that might happen.

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