Leafs had a surprise participant in morning skate before tonight's game against Nashville

Injuries to John Klingberg, Mark Giordano and Timothy Liljegren have thrust players like William Lagesson, Conor Timmins and Simon Benoit into the limelight, and while they have, in large, performed amicably, they are not long-term solutions and the Leafs have been actively scouring the trade market for upgrades.

Thankfully, there was some good news to share coming out of Saturday's morning skate, as Timothy Liljegren joined his teammates for some extra work after putting in some work with fellow injured blueliner Mark Giordano just prior to the morning skate.

Obviously, the Leafs aren't planning on activating Liljegren for tonight's game against the Nashville Predators. He'll need to first take part in a number of full practices with the team before he's ready to jump back into the lineup. Still, the fact that he's finally ready to join the team for some extra work is very encouraging.

Liljegren has been out of the lineup since November 2nd with a high-ankle sprain, which he suffered at the hands of Boston's Brad Marchand, who took Liljegren's feet out from under him in a dangerous area of the ice during a puck race.