Steven Lorentz Returns to Practice as Maple Leafs Clarify His Status for Game vs. Predators

Steven Lorentz was injured on Saturday's game against Detroit after taking an awkward hit from Ben Chiarot and left without returning.

It was an innocent enough play but like we saw with Lucas Raymond on Monday; the smallest things can be an issue.

No timeline was given for his return although he was expected to not miss too much time as opposed to Scott Laughton who is out for a few more weeks with his lower-body ailment.

So it's great then that we got to see Lorentz back on the ice Tuesday ahead, and while there is absolutely no official update or guarantee that he is returning; it's still a big positive.

Again, the team is going to have an update later regarding Lorentz and it might not be until much closer to game time before we get any indication.

He was skating with the scratches in Sammy Blais and Philippe Myers, however perhaps Toronto should make an executive decision and put them in to shake things up.

As to who would come out of the lineup is a big question.

Easton Cowan played himself into a spot and looked really good, so it would be hard to shift him out. Someone like Calle Jarnkrok has been too vital to your team so far to take him out.

So give someone like Nick Robertson a rest, or even a basically invisible Dakota Joshua; and with Nic Roy and Jarnkrok around him he gets some modicum of protection.

Lorentz has been solid so far in his; let's be honest, one game of the season (he played 1:17 of the first period on Saturday). He has two assists and six hits while also playing solid defense alongside Roy and Jarnkrok.

Those latter two have sparked the offense for Toronto alongside Lorentz as the trio have seven points in three games (4 goals, 3 assists) and a plus-5 combined.

Contrast that to the top-six who have 14 points between six players and only four goals (Matthews, Nylander, McMann, Knies) with an even plus/minus of zero; they just have not been effective whatsoever.

It would be easier to figure out if the Leafs' top lines were making noise but since they have fallen silent so far this season, the depth has had to pick up the slack; but the depth guys are also the ones getting hurt.

You would hope that if Lorentz is on the ice for the Toronto Maple Leafs this morning, he would certainly be good enough to go for Tuesday night's tilt.