Matthews departed after the first half of practice for the non-playing group.
Matthews departed after the first half of practice for the non-playing group.
Auston Matthews did not take part in the second of the Toronto Maple Leafs' non-playing group practice on Tuesday.
"Just an upper-body thing. It's not serious. He should be fine," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said.
Matthews skated on a line with Mitch Marner and Steven Lorentz, who returned to the ice after missing the last few days with an upper-body injury. After Matthews departed Marner had to spot-fill for the rest of the session while defenseman William Villeneuve flipped to forward to join the line. The exact issue Matthews is dealing with is unknown.
Matthews is entering his first season as captain of the Maple Leafs, succeeding John Tavares in a handover ceremony which took place last month. He's coming off his most productive season where he scored 69 goals and 38 assists in 81 regular-season games. Matthews along with most of the team's veterans were not part of the group of players that were scheduled to take on the Ottawa Senators later in the day at Canadian Tire Centre.
Calle Jarnkrok was also absent from practice due to a lower-body injury. The winger had been skating on a line with Max Domi and William Nylander lining up at center. Nick Abruzzese moved up the lineup to skate in Jarnkrok's place.
Jarnkrok had 10 goals and 11 assists in 52 games last season.
Kyle Clifford was scheduled to try and skate at practice after sustaining an upper-body injury. He hit the ice briefly and left before the session began.
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