Leafs News: Auston Matthews Return Rumours Intensify After New Footage Appears

A little over one week ago, Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews went down with an injury in a 5-3 loss against the Boston Bruins, creating a lot of concern and uncertainty in Toronto.

Initially, it was believed that a dirty hit from behind from Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov resulted in Matthews' injury, but after confirming that it was a lower-body issue, and not an upper-body ailment that sidelined Matthews, revealing that the Zadorov hit played no role in his injury.

The Leafs have dealt with injury after injury this season, watching the reserve list grow by the day. Fortunately, a video clip of Matthews running drills on Thursday points to a huge imminent boost for the Maple Leafs' roster.

While Matthews looks like he's getting sharper by the day, his return won't come on Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, as the team has already ruled him out. However, with how good he looks today, it wouldn't be a shocker to see him return against the Canadiens on Saturday night.

After skating and running drills, Matthews did stay out for full practice with the Maple Leafs as well, which is a strong indicator that he'll be back in the lineup in time for the weekend.

Matthews' struggles this season have been well documented, with the Leafs' captain still under the point-per-game mark with 9 goals and 14 points through 17 games.

Thankfully, some of the team's other star players have elevated their games this season, including Leafs scoring leader William Nylander, emerging young star Matthew Knies and former captain John Tavares -- all of whom are well above the point-per-game mark to balance things out.

Matthews was heating up prior to his injury, notching 6 points in his last 6 games, so there was hope of a big turnaround on the horizon. Perhaps some rest and recovery is just what the doctor ordered, and will help the 28-year-old pick up right where he left off.