Maple Leafs Coach Reveals Help is On the Way

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the best teams in the league so far this season and have been doing so while they battle the injury bug. Turns out some fresh faces are expected back, and soon as head coach Sheldon Keefe updated the media on the status of forward Ilya Mikheyev.

The Russian winger who has been out since the preseason where he broke his thumb, has been skating and is expected to be available to the team for their upcoming Western Canada road trip. Expect to see Mikheyev in the lineup on Dec. 14 when the Maple Leafs visit the Edmonton Oilers.

The 27-year-old who can be snake bitten at times was ruled out for a minimum of eight weeks back on Oct. 11 and the timeline is basically right on point. Last season in 54 games he recorded 17 points and often had breakaways or grade A chances that he couldn't finish.

The role for Mikheyev to get more ice-time this season will be on the third-line which is the team's shut down line featuring best buddies David Kampf and Ondrej Kase. So far Pierre Engvall has seen more of the minutes there but from the sounds of it the Maple Leafs prefer this spot to be for Mikheyev.

There's going to be a giant spot light on the Maple Leafs forward when he returns as Mikheyev asked the Maple Leafs for a trade last summer and it was denied. Now they seem to have extra bodies on their roster and if he's unable to find a home on the team's third line, expect to see a trade as Toronto will likely then grant Mikheyev's wish.