Sheldon Keefe touches on the John Tavares and Timothy Liljegren absences from on ice activities on Thursday

On Thursday, however, both Tavares and Liljegren were absent from on ice activities in Gravenhurst, which led to some speculation from fans who were worried that perhaps one or both had suffered setbacks and could miss additional time. Well, thankfully, Sheldon Keefe put to rest any doubts that anyone had that both Tavares and Liljegren were still well on track to return on their respective timelines. According to Keefe, it was merely a rest day for the team's captain and one of its brightest young stars on the blueline.

At the moment, Tavares has not been fully ruled out for the Leafs' season opener in Montreal next week, but it's far more likely that the team takes no chances and waits until he's back to 100% before bringing him back. His original timeline had him slated to miss at least 3 games.

Liljegren is on a bit of a lengthier timeline, however, and will likely miss the entirety of October. He is expected to be added to LTIR, which will give the Leafs a little bit of a grace period to decide what they're going to do in order to become fully cap compliant. It still stands to reason that one of Alexander Kerfoot or Justin Holl will be moved.