Maple Leafs Star Auston Matthews 'Doubtful' To Return From Injured Reserve Against Senators, Remains Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Ailment
Auston Matthews appears set to miss his fourth consecutive game due to an upper-body injury when the Toronto Maple Leafs host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.
Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving provided an update on the captain's health during a media session on Monday.
"No change day-to-day. We just want to make sure we get ahead of it and hopefully get it behind us once and for all," Treliving stated. "I would say he's doubtful for tomorrow. And so we'll just keep going down that path."
Matthews returned to the ice on Saturday for the first time since being sidelined six days earlier, prior to the team's 4-0 victory over the Boston Bruins. He was subsequently placed on injured reserve (IR) to facilitate the activation of Connor Dewar. Although Matthews was eligible to be removed from IR and potentially play against the Senators on Tuesday, it appears he will remain out.
With Max Pacioretty sidelined week-to-week due to a hamstring injury, a roster spot opened up on the IR that would allow Matthews to return without the Leafs needing to make any other roster move that affects their roster. However, the team is prioritizing Matthews' full recovery before reintroducing him to the lineup.
Head coach Craig Berube confirmed that Matthews' current issue is related to the upper-body ailment that caused him to leave a practice during the pre-season.
Matthews recorded 5 goals and 6 assists in 13 games this season, a production that is low by the star's status.
"Auston's play for before he was out was very good, in my opinion," Berube said Monday. "I get that the goals weren't going in but the chances were there and the 200-foot play was excellent."
In addition to Matthews, the Leafs face quite the roster crunch. Defenseman Jani Hakanpaa returned from his long-term injured reserve conditioning loan but has yet to be cleared. A spoke will need to be made for the defender at some point.
Calle Jarnkrok won't be returning from an LTIR anytime soon, with Treliving revealing that the forward suffered a setback in his recovery and is going to New York to see a specialist over what is believed to be a sports hernia ailment.
There's a lot of moving parts and the Leafs will continue day a daily approach with all of their pieces.
you're going to run through 82 games. You're going to run through injuries like that, run through injuries like this. So we're just managing our way through.
