The Toronto Maple Leafs have been without captain and superstar forward Auston Matthews due to an injury.
Matthews was listed as day-to-day, but he has now missed three weeks. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving then revealed Matthews went to Germany to talk to a doctor he has previously worked with.
Immediately, many fans wondered how serious the injury was. But, NHL insider Chris Johnston of TSN gave an update on when the star forward may return.
“He’s arrived at a renowned sports clinic in Germany. It’s one that many athletes have gone to from various sports for treatment. It’s one that Matthews himself has been to previously,” Johnston said on Insider Trading. “I think where some of the surprise comes in is understanding where it started. This is an injury that Matthews initially suffered in training camp, tried to play through in the regular season – it was thought that a little bit of rest would be enough to get him back to where he was and he just wasn’t responding, wasn’t getting better.
“With this break in the Leafs’ schedule the decision was made for him to go over to Germany to see this doctor, accompanied by a Leafs physician. The hope is that after treatment he’ll be able to resume skating and start working his way back into the lineup. But, I wouldn’t expect to see him – in a best-case scenario – until some time next week,” Johnston added.
Matthews has not played since November 3. In the game, he played 22:10 which was the third-most ice time he had in the 13 games he’s played in this season.
Maple Leafs GM Says He Was Protecting Matthews
Toronto has been listing Matthews as day-to-day with the injury, despite him being out for a couple of weeks.
When asked why the Maple Leafs didn’t give more of an update on Matthews, Trelivign said he is protective of his players.
“I’m protective of our players. I don’t think we want to share as much as we can, but anything that may put the player at jeopardy, I just am not going to do that,” Treliving said. “There’s not surgery. There’s not any speculation like that. Like I said, I think we’re in a good spot here where we’re getting beyond it, and we’re going to try to use this time to get this behind us.”
Matthews has skated in 13 games recording 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points this season.
Matthews Hoping to Play Soon
The Maple Leafs captain is one of the best players in the NHL and Treliving says he’s hoping to play again soon.
Treliving says Matthews is doing everything in his power to return from the injury and play again ASAP.
“He wants to play,” Treliving said. “But he also knows that we’ve got the long game in mind here, so he’s doing well. He’s been doing all his workouts and all that stuff. So he wants to play. I mean, that’s what he does, right? But he’ll be back, hopefully, like I said, soon, here in the not-too-distant future.”
The hope for Treliving is Matthews will return to the ice against Utah on November 24 or the Florida Panthers game on November 27.
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