TORONTO -- Auston Matthews participated in his first full practice with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday and could return from an upper-body injury when they visit the Florida Panthers on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, SNW, SNO, SN1).

The Maple Leafs captain has been sidelined with an upper-body injury since Nov. 3 and the situation reached a point where he even traveled to Munich, Germany for treatment last week. Although he's occasionally participated in smaller drills during his absence, Tuesday's update was one that Toronto fans have been waiting for.

Not surprisingly, given their talents, the No. 1 pair of Tanev and Jake McCabe has been particularly effective at keeping the area around the net clear. In their 200 five-on-five minutes together, the Leafs give up only 6.4 high-danger attempts per 60 minutes, the third-best mark for any pairing in the league that’s logged at least 150 minutes.

On a recent Real Kyper and Bourne episode, Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne, and Sam McKee delved into the mounting pressure on the Toronto Maple Leafs to sign Mitch Marner to a long-term extension.

A couple of dusty ol’ sporting clichés find themselves in direct opposition when it comes to Auston Matthews, who is targeting a healthy return to game action sometime this week in Florida.

The top-six forwards on the Maple Leafs are on the recovery trail as the team heads to Florida. Auston Matthews was a full practice participant on Tuesday and Matthew Knies made his first appearance,