Dave Bolland, his season disrupted by a severed tendon at the start of November, should be ready to return to the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup when the NHL schedule resumes later this month.
“It looks like Bolland should be available to us, which is a player back into our lineup,” said Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle following his team’s 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.
Bolland underwent surgery the day after suffering the injury to his left ankle and was listed as being out indefinitely. The injury occurred on a Zack Kassian hit when the Leafs visited the Canucks earlier this season. Bolland was rushed on a stretcher by a group of reporters and out of Rogers Arena in Vancouver immediately following that game on Nov. 2.
Prior to the beginning of February, the 27-year-old Bolland, in his first season with the Maple Leafs, had given himself a “fifty-fifty” chance of returning prior to the Olympic break, which began at the conclusion of Saturday’s NHL action.
The Leafs acquired Bolland at the end of June, following his second Stanley Cup championship with the Chicago Blackhawks. In 15 games with Toronto, he’s scored six goals and 10 points.