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? Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jani Hakanpaa is close to making his debut with the club, but he'll need medical clearance first. The 32-year-old returned to the Maple Leafs on Monday after spending just over a week with the Toronto Marlies on a conditioning loan. Hakanpaa is working his way back from arthroscopic knee surgery to treat a knee injury he suffered in March of last season. "Hakanpaa's still gotta get final clearance here after [the conditioning loan], but touch wood, everything seems to be moving in the right direction on that one too," Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving said on Monday while providing a list of injury updates. Hakanpaa spent practice on Monday as the extra defenseman and is looking forward to his eventual return. He played two games with the Marlies while down in the AHL but hasn't played an NHL game since Mar. 16 with the Dallas Stars. "We're really close now," Hakanpaa said on Monday after practice. "Hopefully soon here we get it going." The defenseman has been practicing with the Maple Leafs since the regular season began. Although he hasn't played an NHL game yet, Hakanpaa has looked ready to play since then. However, because he was placed on long-term injured reserve, Hakanpaa hasn't been able to play. The Kirkkonummi, Finland-born player has surpassed the required time needed on LTIR and can be activated by Toronto once he's medically cleared. "It's kind of like how it's been throughout the whole process; it's just day by day. You do your best each and every day and then see what the next day brings," the defenseman said on Monday. "I think once you get close, it gets easier, too, because you know [a return is] close. You can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel. And then it's nice, you be around the boys and all that, so it's all good." Hakanpaa signed a one-year, $1.47 million contract with the Maple Leafs on Sep. 11, two months after reportedly agreeing to a longer-term deal [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/toronto-maple-leafs/latest-news/reports-maple-leafs-sign-defenseman-jani-hakanpaa-to-two-year-3-million-contract] with the club. Toronto's defense has been strong, especially with Conor Timmins, who's found himself in a full-time role with the team to begin the year. Who'll come out of the lineup for Hakanpaa remains in the air, but so does how much he'll be playing once he's deemed fully healthy. The defenseman even admitted on Monday that he and the team are unsure of his playing time. "I guess we're just going to wait and see to be honest," Hakanpaa admitted. "I think nobody really knows how it's going to be, so yeah, we'll see how it goes and then, again, I think it's just a day-to-day process here."
