After a difficult history with injury timelines, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving offers an update on Auston Matthews' lower-body issue, confirming the star will miss the next two games at minimum.
Amid a rash of injuries, the Toronto Maple Leafs received some positive news as Auston Matthews took the ice before the club's full morning skate ahead of its game against the St. Louis Blues at Scotiabank Arena.
Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving confirmed that the star center is progressing.
“He's coming along. We've listed him as day to day, obviously not going to play tonight. I would suspect Thursday is probably not a possibility,” Treliving said of Matthews. “Probably after Thursday, at least we get a little bit better sense of how things are responding. I don't anticipate it will be too long.”
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Leafs set to hold a full morning skate later this morning, but injured players Chris Tanev, Marshall Rifai and Auston Matthews getting some work in beforehand.
Matthews sustained the lower-body injury in the Leafs’ 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Nov. 11. The Leafs placed Matthews on injured reserve dating back to that game, meaning he could have returned this Thursday, but the team has now ruled out that possibility.
Matthews left the game shortly after taking a hit from Nikita Zadorov; however, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube denied that was the play in which the Toronto star was injured.
Report: Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews Sidelined 'At Least A Week' With Lower-Body Injury
Matthews suffered the ailment midway through the second period of Tuesday's game against the Bruins.
Matthews took the ice for the first time since the injury on Tuesday morning along with fellow injured players Chris Tanev (upper-body) and Marshall Rifai (wrist), before the rest of the club took part in a full morning skate.
Treliving acknowledged that the team’s track record of recovery timelines hasn’t been great. This is especially true of Matthews, who missed 15 games last season with a lingering upper-body injury that clearly hampered his ability to perform at his best. Matthews has nine goals and five assists in 17 games with the Leafs this season.
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Matthews will miss a minimum of the club's next two games as a result of being placed on IR.
In Matthews’ absence, John Tavares has been elevated to the top-line center role. Tavares has recorded 11 goals and 13 assists in 19 games.
In other injury news, Nic Roy, who had moved to the second-line center spot, will miss the next “couple of games,” according to head coach Craig Berube.
With key players sidelined, Toronto is currently struggling at 8-9-2 and sits second-last in the Atlantic Division standings.
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