The Toronto Maple Leafs have made a positive announcement regarding the injury that Auston Matthews is suffering, and it's expected he is nearly ready to return. The Toronto Maple Leafs have been grinding through the season without captain Auston <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/toronto-maple-leafs/leafs-auston-matthews-has-suffered-an-injury-and-is-out-for-tonight-game-against-the-bruins' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Matthews, who has been out since November 4</a> with an unspecified upper-body injury. Details on his condition have been limited, which only perpetuated speculation on his status. There's reason for optimism, though: NHL insider Chris Johnston had some encouraging updates during an appearance on TSN's 'Insider Trading', revealing that Matthews was making good progress in his recovery. «We're still not able at this point to pinpoint exactly which game he'll be back for,» Johnston said. «It remains a day-by-day situation for Matthews, but there is some optimism here. He added that the team schedule of late has given Matthews a bit of a cushion, in that he isn't being rushed back onto the ice. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/Leafslatest/status/1857192813215219892'> </a></blockquote></div> Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet added context to Matthews via his '32 Thoughts', stating that known for being a private person, Matthews has kept all personal health issues close to his vest throughout his career, with the Leafs being equally discrete pertaining to injuries with him. «Don't think there is a player in the NHL more secretive about injury information than Auston Matthews,» Friedman wrote. Without Matthews, Toronto has held up well, going 4-1 across its last five games. According to Johnston, the golden chance for Matthews to truly get himself ready at full speed for the first time in more than a month is the Leafs' upcoming light schedule, just three games in 13 days. The Leafs next play the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, and as of now, it is expected that Matthews will not play, however, he hasn't been ruled out for the team's following game against Vegas. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger/status/1857426270675427344'> </a></blockquote></div> The Leafs are comfortably sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 10-6-2 record and 22 points from 18 games. While it's still not certain when Matthews might return, based on the good performance of the team and promising reports, perhaps fans will get a glimpse of their captain back on the ice pretty soon.