What’s the Maple Leafs’ plan for returning players on their long trip?

If you believed the Maple Leafs weren’t really the conference’s worst team of a month ago, congratulations on vindication.

Now for some obfuscation — where the team sees it best to slot in three key players returning in the next few days and weeks.

William Nylander, Jake McCabe and Anthony Stolarz — all at one stretch or another this season considered the most valuable at their respective positions of forward, defence and goalie — are on the mend.

Coach Craig Berube said it was possible Nylander plays Saturday against Vancouver, McCabe should be back on the following Western trip if his week-long stint on the sidelines is accurate and, while Stolarz might be a post-Olympics project, he is skating again.

We’ll start with Nylander, where there’s always a place for a team’s leading scorer (41 points) who had five in the last two games prior to a lower-body injury against the Senators on Dec. 27.

As is often the case with this secretive club, his day-to-day condition stretched to a six-game absence with a transfer to injured reserve this week, a paper move to allow the recall of defenceman Marshall Rifai.

But Friday’s demotion of forward Jacob Quillan to the Marlies indicates Nylander will be activated soon. Look for him to take his second-line place with centre John Tavares with Matias Maccelli or Calle Jarnkrok shuffled or scratched.

When will McCabe return?

Berube usually likes a practice or two to size up returning players, but that will be nearly impossible with the January/early February schedule averaging a game every two days. They took Friday off after an overtime win in Philadelphia and play in three different time zones after Saturday.

So, if McCabe is on target from his lower-body issue, he’ll be dropped into one of next week’s four road contests: against Colorado, Utah (a back-to-back set on Monday and Tuesday), Vegas on Thursday or Winnipeg next Saturday.

Since McCabe was hurt on Long Island a week ago, the Leafs received much worse news with the long-term departure of his partner, Chris Tanev. They were reunited for just two games following the latter’s six-week absence with an upper-body injury, before an unrelated groin mishap put the balance of Tanev’s season in doubt.

Berube prefers left-right combinations on the bliueline where possible, having already shifted McCabe side to side with Simon Benoit, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Troy Stecher when Tanev has been out.

Improved play from Benoit, Philippe Myers and Morgan Rielly during this Leafs’ seven-game points streak could make the choice of McCabe’s next partner a bit tricky. That’s if general manager Brad Treliving isn’t trying to strike before the March 6 NHL trade deadline, trying to make something work for a veteran despite his limited resources.

For now, this week’s return of Brandon Carlo from foot surgery to hook up with Rielly and the effective combo of the dogged Stecher with Ekman-Larsson points to Myers or Benoit eventually sitting for McCabe.

There are plenty of coming back-to-back games for those two, or Matt Benning and Rifai.

Regardless of partner, McCabe will be huge in matching against top lines with the Leafs not having last change on the road, defending any late-game leads or a role in the league’s third-best penalty-killing unit.

Does Stolarz have a timeline?

Berube still is not offering a Stolarz timeline with his mystery upper-body injury sustained on Nov. 11. He had won four of his previous five, but the crease has been in good hands of late with Joseph Woll and Dennis Hildeby.

The latter does not require waivers whenever Stolarz is ready, but the current rotation might prove hard to break. That’s assuming this roller-coaster season doesn’t have a notable second-half dip.

lhornby@postmedia.com

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