Toronto Maple Leafs superstar center Auston Matthews took the ice for the club's optional morning skate on Saturday. But when will he return to game action? After just four AHL games, Fraser Minten is back in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The club recalled the 20-year-old on Tuesday morning after placing David Kampf on injured reserve with a lower-body injury retroactive to Nov. 16, when Toronto played the Edmonton Oilers. Kampf has played 18 of 19 games with the Maple Leafs this season, centering the team's third and fourth lines. He has three assists in that span while averaging 12:18 of ice time. The 29-year-old center can return to game action after seven days (retroactive to Nov. 16) on IR, which means the next time he can play is against the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday. Minten has played five games with the Marlies since returning from a high-ankle sprain he suffered in the second game of September's Prospect Showdown against the Montreal Canadiens. The 20-year-old forward has been centering Toronto's second line with Nikita Grebenkin and Alex Nylander on his wings (Alex Steeves was on his wing before being called up). He played four NHL games at the beginning of the regular season last year before Toronto sent him back to the WHL. Minten had two goals and two assists for four points during his first five games in the AHL with the Marlies. He's joining a Maple Leafs team that's been battling the injury bug as of late with Auston Matthews (upper-body), Calle Jarnkrok (lower-body), Max Pacioretty (lower-body) and now Kampf (lower-body) out of the lineup. Ryan Reaves will also miss the next five games due to a suspension after his hit to the head of Darnell Nurse on Saturday against Edmonton. Minten has been everything the Maple Leafs could've hoped for after returning from injury. He's been strong with the Marlies, at both ends of the rink, and will likely bring a lot to the Maple Leafs' top six with Kampf out. "He’s probably, besides Logan Shaw, probably one of the next closest guys to being a coach after Logan," Marlies head coach John Gruden said last week about Minten. "He just has a lot of good qualities. He’s a sponge. You usually only have to tell him once. It’s a good quality to have, especially as a 20-year-old." The Maple Leafs have practice on Tuesday at Ford Performance Centre before hosting the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
