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.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been without captain Auston Matthews for the last several games, as he’s been dealing with an upper-body ailment. He’s also sought treatment overseas in Germany and has resumed skating with a goal of getting back into the lineup sooner than later.

Auston Matthews came back from Germany with a spring in his step Saturday, but wasn’t too forthcoming about what exactly his upper body injury is. After five days seeing a specialist in Germany, at least some of the mystery about his day-to-day condition that has stretched into three weeks was explained.

Auston Matthews has returned to the ice ahead of Toronto Maple Leafs practice, raising hopes he’ll soon be able to return to game action. While the star

The Toronto Maple Leafs might finally see their captain Auston Matthews return to the lineup after a lengthy upper-body injury.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been without captain Auston Matthews for nearly the entire month of November thus far with the Leafs’ forward dealing with an injury that has reportedly been nagging him since training camp.