William Nylander's return timeline is starting to take shape

William Nylander's injury status has been updated as the Toronto Maple Leafs will be without their star winger once again ahead of tonight's game against the New York Islanders.

Nylander has not played since December 27th since suffering a lower-body injury against the Ottawa Senators, having missed the last three games with uncertainty over his return.

Projected to miss tonight's game against the Islanders, Leafs head coach Craig Berube provided an update on the status of Nylander, although stopped short of being able to guarantee when Nylander would be back in the lineup.

Craig Berube provided new information about the availability of William Nylander, setting up Nylander's return to the ice coming soon, although leaving open when next would be actual game action.

Berube said that Nylander was "progressing" and is positively moving forward in his recovery process, with it being as soon as Monday that Nylander could be back practicing with the team.

It's unclear if that is in regards to Nylander being a full participant or not, if it would be with the team in full or no-contact, something not fully determined.

Nylander has already resumed skating on his own, but hasn't yet been back on the ice, with the Leafs having a few days off after tonight before their next game Tuesday vs the Florida Panthers.

There was some potential for Nylander to return as soon as tonight, which indicates that Nylander appears close to his return, but tonight being too soon.

There's no word on if Nylander could be back as soon as Tuesday's game, but will be the beginning of Nylander's progress in getting back to the ice and closer to rejoining the Leafs lineup.

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