The star forward missed practice with what Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe described as a maintenance day but said they’ll have to see how he is on Wednesday.
Auston Matthews' availability for Wednesday’s game against the Nashville Predators is unclear after the Toronto Maple Leafs star forward missed practice on Tuesday for a “maintenance day”.
When asked if Matthews would be available after missing the session, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe would only add that they'll have to "see how he is tomorrow".
The Maple Leafs practiced as if they are preparing for a scenario in which Matthews would be unavailable as two lines were affected instead of using a typical placeholder for a traditional maintenance-day absence.
"[It's] nothing we’re too concerned about at this point," Keefe said of the severity of Matthews' ailment.
Matthews has played in every game this season. On Sunday, he picked up his 20th goal of the season in a 6-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. He's played through many bumps and bruises this season. One notable occurrence was when he was the recipient of a cross-check to the lower back from Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn back on Oct. 20. He took the following day of practice off for maintenance and played the following night against the Winnipeg Jets, but admitted that the cross-check "stung."
Pierre Engvall moved up to the top line to skate on the wing while Michael Bunting and William Nylander with the latter moving over to skate at center.
"It's nice to be in the middle you get more puck touches," Nylander said of the move. "But we'll see what happens tomorrow."
With Engvall moving up, Bobby McMann was called up from the Toronto Marlies to skate on the third line alongside Alex Kerfoot and David Kampf.
The undrafted 26-year-old is coming productive stretch for the Marlies where he had three goals and three assists in three games and was named AHL Player of the Week for the period ending Jan. 8
"It just made a lot of sense," Keefe said of calling up McMann over other players with the Marlies. "The fact that we had the roster space, it made sense to add him to our mix."
Without Matthews, the Maple Leafs adjusted both of their power plays at practice.
Morgan Rielly returned on PP1 as he has done when the Leafs have trotted out four forwards, but this time Michael Bunting remained on the unit. The Leafs went with a second power-play unit that featured defensemen Rasmus Sandin and Conor Timmins, while forwards Pierre Engvall, Calle Jarnkrok and Pontus Holmberg were the primary players with McMann rotating in and out.
In addition to his 20 goals, Matthews has 27 assists in 41 games, on pace to eclipse his previous high of 46 helpers he had last season.