Reporter Shares Significant Update on Injured Maple Leafs Winger Matthew Knies

Knies, who was injured after being on the wrong end of a high hit by Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Zach Whitecloud, appeared at Wednesday's morning skate in Florida, but not wearing the red, non-contact jersey that he was spotted wearing on Tuesday.

Unfortunately for those who were hoping for a quicker return than expected for Knies, a return against the Panthers does not appear to be in the cards on Wednesday.

The 22-year-old has skated in 20 games this season, and during that time, the youngster has done his best to make the most of his opportunity, potting 8 goals to go along with 4 assists for 12 points, 8 penalty minutes, and a +1 plus/minus rating.

Although the Knies has only missed a week, he joined a long list of forwards who are out of the lineup, including Auston Matthews and Max Domi, among others.

Since the hit took place, concussion concerns were at the forefront of everyone's minds for Knies, who left last Wednesday's game to enter concussion protocol and did not return.

While the Leafs have not come out and labelled Knies' injury as a concussion, it seems pretty likely that that's what his "upper-body injury" actually may have been. For a player with a bit of a history of concussions, the hope is that the Leafs took their time to ensure that Knies was good to go before clearing him for contact on Wednesday.

All signs point towards Matthew Knies perhaps being healthy enough to return to action on Saturday night, which is, coincidentally, also when Auston Matthews is likely to make his triumphant return after being ruled out on Wednesday.