Should he be able to play Wednesday against Chicago, Tyler Toffoli will be enthusiastically welcomed back into the fold by the reeling Los Angeles Kings, who have lost seven of eight and are having their depth tested by injury and personnel issues.

Toffoli, diagnosed with mononucleosis on Friday, January 9, has missed the last five games but appears to be on the verge of a return. His symptoms were not severe, he has been cleared for contact by doctors, and for the second consecutive day participated fully at a Kings practice with minimal side effects.

“I feel good,” he said. “I did some battle drills today and I was trying to push myself more than I usually would the day before a game, but just trying to get my legs under me. It’s been a long couple weeks here and I’m just excited. If I’m going, I’m going to try and bring my best.”

Darryl Sutter will continue to monitor Toffoli’s progress over the next 24 hours, though Toffoli himself said that should a hypothetical conversation with the medical and coaching staffs arise, he’d tell them “I want to play.”

“The doctors have cleared him, so he’s full at practice,” Darryl Sutter said. “It’s not that big an issue. You activate a player, there’s a spot there, so it’s not that big a deal.”

Toffoli, who has points in 10 of 16 regular season and playoff games against the Blackhawks – seven goals and 13 points total – would be a welcomed presence for a team that has averaged an impressive 2.78 goals per game over the last 23 games but has scored more than two goals only once in the five games that both Toffoli and Tanner Pearson (broken fibula) have missed.

Tyler Toffoli, on the activity he’s taken part in over the last two and a half weeks:

The first week or so, I didn’t really do a whole lot. I did a bunch of bike rides, I mean wasn’t really doing a whole lot when I was on the ice. I wasn’t really allowed to do anything. I felt fine, but obviously I was listening to the doc and I think the whole process went by pretty smoothly. I’m back a lot sooner than a lot of people thought.

Toffoli, on who will make the final decision on whether he plays tomorrow:

I think it’s everyone. I think we’re all going to talk and see how I’m feeling and they’re going to tell me if obviously my spleen is fine and everything. That’s not an issue, it’s more of my legs and getting my legs under me.