Rumor: Leafs hint at a big return for tonight's game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to face off against a team on Saturday night that has given them a lot of headaches in recent history, the Boston Bruins. Thankfully for the Leafs there are now signs that they will be getting some much needed help back in the line up ahead of that big game.

According to a report from Toronto Maple Leafs beat reporter Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun the Maple Leafs have been leaving the door open for a big return from injured goaltender Frederik Andersen on Saturday. This news comes as a big surprise given that it had previously been reported that Andersen would not be back in action before the Leafs upcoming Monday match up against the Colorado Avalanche, however Hornby has cited comments from both Babcock and Andersen himself as reasons for his suspicious.

As you would expect head coach Mike Babcock was asked about the status of Andersen following the organization's morning skate on Saturday on to Hornby's point it was clear that the Maple Leafs bench boss was not ruling out his starting goaltender for the game against the Bruins. When pressed on the topic Babcock admitted that he would make his decision later that day, something that confirms, at the very least, that Andersen's return is a possibility this evening.

“We’ll know who is starting after 11 o’clock,” said Babcock as per the Toronto Sun.

Andersen had previously hinted at the fact that he was starting to feel significantly better as well, even suggesting that all he was missing was that game time intensity that is hard to mimic in practice. 

“(It’s) progressing well,” said Andersen. “I don’t want to get into the specifics of the injury. We need to get back to a point where we’re comfortable and not making things worse. It’s very close, it’s just getting game-type intensity back.”

In fact Andersen even hinted at the possibility that he could be ready today and furthermore indicated that he would let head coach Mike Babcock know if and when he was ready to go.

“We’ll see tomorrow. That’s all I know now. Once I feel ready to go, I’ll let (Babcock) know.

Perhaps Babcock received such a message this morning which is why he now has a big decision to make ahead of a tough match up.