Toronto Maple Leafs superstar center Auston Matthews took the ice for the club's optional morning skate on Saturday. But when will he return to game action? It sounds like we won't see Auston Matthews in the Toronto Maple Leafs lineup for a few more games. According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman on Saturday Headlines [https://x.com/Sportsnet/status/1857967658475348472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1857967658475348472%7Ctwgr%5E8f6c930a2748af1bf3ab434a267563a0761223ed%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftempest.saymedia.com%2F%2Fcontent-items%2Fcs0279dd9220002668%2FContentArticle%2Fview%2Fci02ecbe2d70002751], Toronto is being very cautious with the 27-year-old's health as he works through an upper-body injury that he's been dealing with. "Look, we've just gotta keep updating this because he's one of the biggest names in the sport. The Maple Leafs are going to be careful. They're not panicked at all, but they're going to be careful and I don't know if were going to see him in the next week," Friedman said. "They've only got one game before they play on Sunday." Matthews has missed six consecutive games with an upper-body injury. He hasn't been seen skating since Toronto's optional morning skate on Nov. 9 ahead of their game against the Montreal Canadiens. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said on Friday that there have been no setbacks and that the organization is just cautious given their spread-out schedule. Toronto has two games this week (after their matchup against Edmonton) against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday and the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday. "We got two games in a long stretch here of time, so we're just letting him recover." [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWZYPckLOG0[/embed] Matthews had an upper-body injury during training camp but was ready for Toronto's season opener against Montreal. Berube has confirmed that was the same injury the forward is currently dealing with. Matthews has five goals and six assists for 11 points in 13 games this season. "I've talked before we want to get him 100 percent [healthy]. We want to get it behind us, so he can move forward and we can forward here. But [the schedule] does help," Berube said on Friday. "Would I like him back? Yeah, for sure. But it is what it is. We just gotta keep moving on without him right now."
