The Maple Leafs placed Auston Matthews on injured reserve on Friday afternoon, the team announced. But the move, which is retroactive to the last game Matthews played, isn’t as alarming as it may look.
It means only that Matthews will remain out at least through the weekend. He will miss Friday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings and Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, and will be eligible to play again when the Leafs host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.
The Leafs don’t view this move as a setback, but rather a path to creating a roster spot for Connor Dewar, previously on long-term injured reserve following offseason shoulder surgery, while Matthews continues to recover from his undisclosed ailment.
“We’re going in the right direction,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said of Matthews’ status on Friday morning.
The @MapleLeafs have placed F Auston Matthews on IR (retroactive to November 3).
F Connor Dewar has been recalled from LTIR conditioning loan and activated from LTIR.
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) November 8, 2024
Whether Matthews returns to the lineup when he becomes eligible to come off IR early next week remains to be seen. He didn’t skate with the team on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday (the Leafs were off on Monday and Wednesday) and hasn’t been seen on the ice since he last played against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday night.
The Leafs haven’t disclosed what his injury is exactly, only that it’s lingered for a little while. They believe it was impacting his performance and production early this season. Matthews had only five goals and 11 points in the first 13 games, this after a monster 69-goal, 107-point season.
Among the NHL’s very best at stealing pucks, Matthews had only three takeaways and had thrown a total of six hits.
When he is ready to play again, the Leafs will need to create a roster spot for him. They can do that very easily by waiving one of Matt Benning or Philippe Myers, the team’s current Nos. 7 and 8 defencemen. The Leafs can waive the other whenever Jani Hakanpää is ready to be activated from his season-long stint on LTIR.
Matthews appeared in 81 of 82 regular-season games last season, missing only the one game to illness. Earlier this week, in Matthews’ first missed game of the season, the Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 4-0.
Overall, in 57 missed career games, the team boasts a surprising 36-19-2 record without Matthews.
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(Photo: Brace Hemmelgarn / USA Today)
