Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner expected to return to lineup Saturday vs. Canadiens

Mitch Marner skated on a line with John Tavares and Bobby McMann at practice on Friday, and is expected to make his return to the lineup when the Toronto Maple Leafs face the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

Marner also rejoined the team’s top power-play unit during practice.

The 26-year-old Marner hasn’t dressed for a game since March 7 when the Maple Leafs lost 4-1 to the Boston Bruins. He was originally day-to-day with a lower-body injury, but the team placed the winger on long-term injured reserve March 30, retroactive to March 7, to create enough cap space for a call-up.

Marner was having another highly-productive offensive season, scoring 25 goals and 51 assists for 76 points through 62 games. Now in his eighth NHL season, Marner has 193 goals and 437 assists for 630 points in 569 career games. He was on pace to finish the year with his fourth 90-point season in his career.

The Maple Leafs are 43-23-9 with 95 points, third in the Atlantic Division. Six points behind the Florida Panthers for No. 2 in the division and just two points ahead of the No. 4 Tampa Bay Lightning.

With seven games to go in the regular season, Toronto will need to gain up some points if they want to maintain their spot in the standings, or else they could slip into the No. 1 Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

The No. 3 team in the Atlantic Division will likely face one of the Florida Panthers or Boston Bruins, while the No. 1 Wild Card team could go up against either one of those two teams, or the New York Rangers in the first round.

Drafted No. 4 overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Marner spent three seasons tearing up the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights. Marner had 96 goals and 205 assists for 301 points in 184 career games.

He won a Memorial Cup with the team in 2016.