Good signs from injured Leafs captain Auston Matthews.

It has been 10 days since the Toronto Maple Leafs last saw their captain, star forward Auston Matthews, hit the ice for an actual game but based on some of the scenes on Monday morning a return for Matthews may be imminent.

Matthews hit the ice on Monday ahead of a scheduled practice for the Maple Leafs to work on his own, skating around the ice and shooting some pucks on goal while appearing to move relatively well after aggravating an injury that has been nagging him all season long. Nick Barden was on hand and captured a short video of Matthews working on the ice which you can see just below:

Matthews hasn't been seen since a December 20th game against the Buffalo Sabres when he was the victim of a stiff cross-check from Sabres defenseman Dennis Gilbert, one that the Maple Leafs confirmed aggravated the injury that has been hindering Matthews this season. Matthews did play 19 minutes and 18 seconds in that game but has been held out of the lineup since while once again dealing with that injury.

Here's a look at the cross-check that did the damage:

On a side note, the Maple Leafs and Sabres will cross paths once more over the course of the regular season with a meeting at the very end of the season on the 15th of April in Buffalo, and I wonder what the odds are that Maple Leafs enforcer Ryan Reaves will be in the lineup for that contest.

Stay tuned for more on this developing story.