The Maple Leafs reportedly believe that Matthews will be fully over his upper-body issue whenever the player returns to the lineup.
Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews missed his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury on Wednesday when the club defeated the Washington Capitals 4-3 in overtime. Although the exact timeline for his return remains unknown, TSN's Chris Johnston reports that there's optimism Matthews will fully overcome the specific ailment.
"I can tell you there is some optimism here. Not only is his recovery believed to be moving in the right direction, but there is a feeling that when he does return, he will be completely over this issue, that this rest period will basically eliminate the issue entirely for Auston Matthews," Johnston said on Thursday’s installment of Insider Trading. "The schedule is also in the favor of the Leafs at this point in time. They played already five back-to-backs this year, but right now they only have three games in 13 days. And so that gives a nice window here for Matthews to ramp himself up through practice and eventually return to the lineup."
The Maple Leafs announced on the morning of Nov. 5 that Matthews was day-to-day with an upper-body injury and wouldn’t play that night when the team hosted the Boston Bruins. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube confirmed the injury was the same upper-body issue that had caused Matthews to leave practice during training camp.
When asked if Matthews experienced a setback in his recovery earlier in the week, Berube dismissed the notion.
Matthews has recorded five goals and six assists in 13 games this season.
Berube confirmed that Matthews did not skate on Wednesday while the team was in Washington to face the Capitals and hadn’t taken the ice in recent days.
The Leafs will host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, then won’t play again until Wednesday when they host the Vegas Golden Knights. Their next game after that is four days later, a week from Sunday, when they host the Utah Hockey Club.
