Did coach Babcock drop Nylander hint?!

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock has always been vocal and honest when assessing his team's performance, but on Thursday, he raised some eyebrows and got fans excited when talking about his club's performance so far this season. His post-practice comments just gained plenty of traction.

"Obviously (I'm) ecstatic," the Leafs head coach told reporters, per TSN's Mark Masters. "Any way you look at it, we've (gotten) off to a good start. We think our team's going to get better. We have significant pieces not here and they will be here."Babcock was clearly referring to holdout free agent William Nylander and the injured Auston Matthews, who practiced again with his teammates on Thursday, however still sporting a red non-contact sweater.

"So we'll be a deeper team (with them), but in the meantime, we've been allowed to grow players and create depth in (our) organization, which is important," Babcock added. 

Perhaps Babcock is confident the Leafs will re-sign Nylander before the Dec. 1 deadline to do so. If Nylander and the Maple Leafs cannot resolve their stalemate, the forward will be forced to miss the rest of the season.

While there have been trade rumours, contract simulations and even the looming possibility that the Leafs could simply let Nylander sit out for the rest of the 2018-19 campaign, it sure seems like Babcock is confident in his general manager Kyle Dubas' ability to re-sign the kid before the deadline hits. 

If you prefer not to get your hopes up about the possibility of getting Nylander back shortly, you can be sure Babcock was talking about Matthews, who has been out since Oct. 27 with a shoulder injury. At this time, we know that Matthews will miss at least the next three games and will need to practice with full contact before he can be back to action. 

“He is not ready, so there is no timeline here yet. There is no sense rushing him back. When he gets back, he has to be in shape, has to be ready physically and mentally. When it’s time, he will play.”

In the 11 games Matthews has missed, the Leafs are 7-4-0.