Surprising Turn of Events Drawing Attention at Maple Leafs Practice

After a successful, late-season California road trip that saw the Leafs secure five of a possible six points and vault into top spot in the Atlantic Division, the club returned to the ice on Tuesday for a very brief, 15-minute practice.

When they took to the ice, reporters in attendance quickly noticed that two additions in Max Pacioretty and Jani Hakanpaa were full participants.

Pacioretty has been out since tweaking something in practice as teams returned from the 4-Nations break.

Hakanpaa, on the other hand, skated in just two games for the Leafs in mid-November, thanks to an on-going knee issue that required surgery in March of last year. The Finnish defenseman is hopeful he will be able to get into a game or two before the playoffs.

Both were full participants in the short practice, which bodes well for potential returns when the playoffs begin, as hinted at last week by head coach Craig Berube - at least in the case of Pacioretty.

Berube, however, was not as optimistic Tuesday when asked about both joining for practice.

Having Pacioretty and Hakanpaa back for the playoffs would give the Leafs more options on the blueline and up front, but they should be hesitant to put either in the lineup without getting them into a regular season game beforehand, given that neither have skated at game pace in months.

As the Leafs continue to chase down home-ice advantage in round one, their continued participation in practices will be something to keep an eye on - as will the play of the bottom half of the lineup.