Leafs’ Jake McCabe full participant in practice, ‘coach’s decision’ for Thursday’s game vs. Devils

When asked about McCabe, Berube said the team will make the final call tomorrow before deciding whether to insert him back in the lineup.

“I thought he had a good practice,” he said via The Hockey News’s Nick Barden. “He looked fine. We’ll see how he is tomorrow.”

Getting McCabe back would be a huge boost for the Leafs who have severely missed him in this recent stretch of games. They have posted a record of 4-5-0 when he was unavailable this season, including this recent stretch where they have gone 1-3-0 and were outscored 15-8. The Leafs have also been anemic when he has been out of the lineup since the start of the 2023-24 season with a points percentage of .412.

Marshall Rifai was sent down to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies on Wednesday, which likely signalled that McCabe’s return is imminent. While it remains to be seen if his return will indeed be on Thursday or Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens instead, it is nonetheless encouraging to see that he is inching closer to a return to the lineup.

Before suffering his upper-body ailment, McCabe had recorded 11 points (one goal and 10 assists) in 35 games played along with 71 hits, 68 blocks and a 53.4 percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5 via Natural Stat Trick. McCabe’s strong play helped secure him a five-year extension with the Leafs that carries an AAV of $4.51 million, which included some deferred money to lower the cap hit.