Will Mitch Marner play against Capitals? Sheldon Keefe provides latest on Maple Leafs star's availability

According to head coach Sheldon Keefe, Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner will remain sidelined for the team's next two games at the very least. Marner has been out since he suffered a high ankle sprain against Boston on March 7th.

Keefe ruled Mitch Marner out for the remainder of the week. As a result, he will miss the upcoming matches against Washington on Thursday, and Buffalo on Saturday. This will extend his absence to 11 games so far.

However, Marner did participate in Wednesday's practice wearing a grey non-contact jersey. Keefe also confirmed that Marner is expected to be available for practice on Friday.

In other injury news, defenseman Morgan Rielly is considered questionable to face the Capitals with an upper-body ailment that kept him out of Tuesday's loss to New Jersey. Additionally, goalie Ilya Samsonov confirmed he is healthy and ready to play after exiting last Saturday's game early with an injury scare.

The Leafs have gone 4-5-0 without Marner so far. Getting Marner back during the playoff push would provide a massive boost. The 26-year-old has 76 points with 25 goals and 51 assists in 62 games this season.

Joseph Woll is slated to make his third straight start in goal on Thursday as the Maple Leafs look to get back in the win column against Washington.

Sheldon Keefe on the Maple Leafs skills practice day

Toronto had planned to hold skills practice on Wednesday after losing 6-3 to the New Jersey Devils the night before.

"I don't know if I'd call it a skills day," Keefe said. "We were mindful of the fact that we just played three games in four nights, but quite frankly we had a few players that I expected to be available for practice today that played last night that were not available for practice today.

"So all of a sudden our numbers were real light. And many of the things I wanted to do today were not going to be possible with less people. So I felt if it was going to be more of a flowing type practice then we can do that tomorrow morning and capitalize on the rest here today."

The Maple Leafs (40-22-9) are currently third in the Atlantic Division with 89 points, below the Florida Panthers (46-21-5).