When Maple Leafs prospect Frederik Gauthier crashed hard into the end boards, taken down by Syracuse defenceman Jake Dotchin in the Calder Cup playoffs last May, he didn’t think his injury was that bad.

“I got in, I dropped the puck, I never saw the guy coming, then he hit me and I flew into the boards,” said Gauthier. “I tried to get up. But something was wrong. I couldn’t get up. I didn’t think it was as bad as it turned out.

“It didn’t feel bad at the beginning. It just got worse and worse.”

His left hamstring detached. He had surgery to reattach it, and a long, gruelling summer of therapy and training — that began with the basics of learning how to walk again — was underway. He was unable to walk for six weeks while doctors waited for the hamstring to fully take hold.

“I had to learn how to walk again, slowly building some strength in my leg, trying to get the muscle right,” said Gauthier. “It felt weird to walk again. I didn’t really know how to walk at first.”

Walking, and building muscle strength, led to running. Running led to skating.

“I was a little bit worried,” said Gauthier. “But they told me skating is easier than running. It was.”

While there’s no timetable for Gauthier’s return to game form, the best guess is November, six months after the injury.

But the hulking centre started to skate again last week, lightly, in informal summer workouts at the MasterCard Centre. He has been doing about 20 minutes of drills, but doesn’t participate in any shinny.

Given where he was, he’ll take it.

“It’s as good as I could expect,” said Gauthier. “It’s been really good so far. There’s no danger really. Just go with how I feel and do what the doctors say.

“Every time I go see the doctor, it’s getting better, it’s progressing. So we see how it goes and we go from there.”

Gauthier, a first-round pick in 2013, was probably on course to break through to regular NHL employment this year, likely as a fourth-line checking centre. He’d been a call-up the last two years and his defensive proficiency has always been hailed by his coaches since his junior days.

That he’s “6-foot-5 every shift,” as Leafs coach Mike Babcock is fond of saying, also works in his favour.

So his injury is a significant set-back. It might even have been the reason why the Leafs signed veteran centre Dominic Moore. Not only is Gauthier’s development delayed, but now a potential hole in the Leaf lineup is filled.

“At first it sucked, of course,” said Gauthier. “But I have to go through it. I realized I’m stuck with it, so I might as well get stronger, make the best of it, get the best out of it.”

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When he gets healthy, he’ll no doubt return to the Marlies for a third season. That’s another step toward his goal.

“I want to get healthy, get back on the ice. My goal is to play for the Leafs. I’ll try to do my best to reach that.”