Ilya Samsonov puts in the final work before his return to the Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup after a knee injury. TJ Brodie took part in his first full practice in Dallas on Monday and that was enough for the defenseman to feel ready to make his return to the lineup. “I took a couple of bumps and it felt good,” Brodie said during the morning skate ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs home game against the Los Angeles Kings. “It didn’t get worse so it just felt like the right time.” The return of the Maple Leafs defenseman comes at a time when their defense took another hit. Victor Mete is unavailable for at least the next two games after he sustained a lower-body injury against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said that Brodie had been medically cleared for the past few days and it was just a matter of getting the defenseman up to speed and feeling comfortable. “It’s one of those things that until you get a game to get that mindset back,” Brodie said. “It’s hard to replicate it in practice.” Although the Leafs will ease Brodie in by having him start on the third defensive pair with Conor Timmins, he’ll likely “play with everybody” at different points in the night, according to Keefe. Toronto has played well without many of their defense corps out of the lineup, including Brodie. With Morgan Rielly (knee) and Jake Muzzin (cervical spine issue), Toronto has seen success in a top-four that consists of Mark Giordano and Justin Holl on the first line. Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin round out the second pair. Should there be signs of trouble in the top-four at any point in the game, moving Brodie up to play on the left, or right side, is a simple adjustment. The 32-year-old Brodie has been out of the lineup since Nov. 11 with an oblique injury. He has averaged 21:23 of ice time this season and has two assists in 15 games. Toronto made room for him on the active roster by sending Semyon Der-Arguchintsev back down to the Marlies after making his NHL debut against the Stars on Tuesday.
