Maple Leafs To See How Jake McCabe Feels Before Making Decision On Status Against Devils, But Signs Mark A Return

It looks like Jake McCabe may be ready to return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup sooner rather than later.

The defenseman was a full participant at practice on Wednesday. It was the first time he joined the club for the work session since he was injured on Jan. 5, when he hit his head on the ice following a flight with Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway.

Following the session, McCabe said he felt good but wasn't ready to make any declarations about his status.

"It's a coach's decision, so I'm not going to make any line of decisions for him," McCabe said.

The defenseman took all of his regular full-team reps alongside Chris Tanev. Based on the session, it seems like he should be all good to go. However, there have been false starts with the defenseman before. After taking a puck to the head on Nov. 30, the diagnosis on McCabe went from not expecting to miss time to being out of the lineup for five games.

"I thought he had a good practice. He looked fine. We'll see how he is tomorrow," Berube said of McCabe.

The Leafs are in the midst of a season-long three-game losing streak. McCabe's presence could help them get out of their funk.

Related: 'He'll Be Fine': Maple Leafs Defenseman Jake McCabe Leaves Game Against Lightning After Suffering Upper-Body Injury, Not Set To Miss Any Time

"I mean, obviously him and Tanny as a shutdown pair have done a great job for us, penalty killing, just stabilizing the team," Berube said. You know, at times, very good guy in the locker room, on the bench, vocal. So we miss him, for sure, when he's out of the lineup. He does a lot of good things for us."

McCabe has one goal and 10 assists in 36 games this season. Toronto has a 4-5-0 record without him in the lineup. He ranks second among Leafs defenseman in expected goals at 5-on-5 for at 53.39 percent.

Earlier in the day, the Leafs sent defenseman Marshall Rifai down to the Marlies, another possible sign that McCabe may return.

Related: Why The Maple Leafs Sent Marshall Rifai Down To The Marlies

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