The good news is Zach Hyman can walk normally again.

Up next for the Maple Leafs’ left winger with the repaired anterior cruciate ligament: skating. But he’s not sure when that will be.

“Whenever they clear me to skate,” Hyman said. “I’m always pushing the envelope in asking to skate. I can’t skate yet. I had to reteach my leg how to walk again. Now I’m walking normally. It’s all baby steps.

“It’s coming along. It’s a process. I’m in there every day, doing rehab, recovering, doing strength work, just making sure when I’m cleared, I’ll be as ready as possible.”

Hyman was doing Tuesday one of the things he loves to do when he’s not playing hockey, helping kids. One of his sponsors, Head and Shoulders, had him help out with young hockey players, giving them new sticks and joining sessions with skills coaches as part of its Headstrong campaign.

“It’s all about overcoming adversity, finding your confidence in times of doubt,” Hyman said. “We talked about the journey you take as a hockey player, the ups and downs that go with it and bringing it all back to finding your confidence.”

The irony was not lost on Hyman that, as he was telling the kids about adversity, he was facing the greatest adversity of his career. This injury, suffered in Game 5 of the first round of the playoffs against Boston, has a six-month recovery time, maybe longer.

“It’s adversity for me, but I guess if there was ever a time in a year to do it, I’ve got the whole summer to prep it and get ready for the year,” he said.

Does he have a comeback date in mind?

“I do but I have to make sure I get cleared,” he said. “The most important thing is that when you come back, you come back 100 per cent. You don’t want to re-aggravate anything. You want to make sure you’re ready to go. When you get injured, it’s a good time to re-evaluate your body and work on things to get better. It’s a big learning experience. It’s been a process. After surgery you’re sore and whatnot. It’s moving in the right direction. I’m really happy with how things are.”

Hyman hung out a bit with Travis Dermott, sidelined himself with a shoulder injury, and other local Leafs like Mitch Marner and Nazem Kadri, taking in Raptors games as their MLSE brethren won the NBA championship.

“We got to be a part of it, got to go to a couple of games. It was awesome to be a part of that, and experience the vibe in not just the city, but in the arena in those games,” said Hyman, adding it makes him hungry for the Leafs to be as successful. “When you’re in a city where people care so much, this is the hockey hotbed of the world, I’m sure everyone has visions of what it would look like once we get there. It just pushes you even more because you got a taste of it.”