The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a slower start to the '19/'20 season than expected, currently sporting a 6-5-2 record through the first 13 games. It's no surprise that, once again, at the centre of the Leafs struggles is the club's abysmal team defense. Well, not a moment too soon, it looks like the Buds are going to be receiving a bit of a boost on the back end.

Per TSN's Mark Masters, Maple Leafs defenseman Travis Dermott will suit up for Tuesday night's contest against the Washington Capitals. This is going to be huge for a Leafs team that had previously been rotating Martin Marincin and Kevin Gravel, essentially two top 4 AHL defensemen, on the left side of the third pairing.

Dermott, a former 2nd round draft pick (34th overall in 2015), has played in 101 games for the Leafs, recording 30 points over that span. More importantly, Dermott is a +11 in that time and does not shy away from throwing a big hit or two, which is something the Leafs are in dire need of at the moment. Will he drop the gloves and come to the defense of a star forward who is the target of a questionable hit? Probably not, but at this point, beggars can't be choosers.

Dermott has been sidelined since the spring with a shoulder injury and has not seen any game action since last season, so it goes without saying that the Newmarket, Ontario native has been chomping at the bit to return.

"Being back, being in the situation I'm in now where I'm cleared to go medically, it's what I've been thinking about and dreaming about for the last six months."

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Zach Hyman, also sidelined (torn ACL), is nearing a return as well, but still projects to be a week or two away from being able to get back in to the line up. It is encouraging that Hyman has been skating with the team, but he still needs some practice to get back up to speed before he will be re-inserted into the lineup alongside last year's running-mates John Tavares and Mitch Marner.

Speaking of Tavares, Pierre LeBrun has informed the Twitter world on Monday that JT has made progress towards getting back into the lineup. Tavares, who fractured his finger on October 16th, was initially expected to miss approximately two weeks before being re-evaluated by the team's medical staff. According to LeBrun, Tavares was out shooting pucks on Monday morning, stating that he is coming along and that there have been no setbacks. The official two-week mark will be October 30th, so it's highly likely that an update on the Leafs captain's status will be available on Wednesday or Thursday.