NHL insider Mike Kelly believes Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is dealing with an injury that has impacted his performance.
Matthews missed time this season due to an undisclosed injury, which caused him to travel to Europe to talk to a specialist. Although he has been playing every game, Kelly believes he’s still injured, which is why he isn’t scoring as much as he has.
“Mid-range, right around the hashmarks, he had 22 goals last year,” Kelly said on Coast to Coast on Sports on Prime about Matthews. “He only has 5 this year, from an area that he scores a ton from usually. His shot volume isn’t down much. His shot quality isn’t down much… I wonder if maybe some fatigue, 4 Nations, injury that he has been dealing with. Maybe some of that, both of those factors into the mid-range shot, not being as deadly as last year.”
Although Matthews has been playing every game, Kelly does think an injury is impacting his shot and ability to beat goalies cleanly. The analyst thinks Matthews is still taking good shots, but this year, they just aren’t going in.
Matthews is in the first year of his four-year, $53 million deal with the Maple Leafs. This season, he’s recorded 29 goals and 39 assists for 68 points in 58 games.
Maple Leafs Giving Matthews Time Off
It’s a fair speculation from Kelly that Matthews is dealing with an injury.
As the Stanley Cup playoffs inch closer, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube gave Matthews a day off for practice so he can get some rest.
“The minutes got a little high…,” Berube said. “With the state of the game and where we were at—Max (Domi) was in the (penalty) box, too, and wasn’t available, I played a lot of our skilled guys a lot down the stretch to try to tie the game up. We get into OT, and that is when they play…
“It’s important, I always tell you guys, I don’t want their minutes to get that high. There are times that it does,” Berube added. “But every game is different. I want to win games, and so do they. It’s not like they haven’t done that before, you know? They rest today, get ready for tomorrow.”
After missing practice before the Maple Leafs’ game on March 29, Matthews ended up recording 1 goal and an assist in a 3-1 win.
Matthews Visited Germany Earlier This Season Due to Injury
As Matthews battled an injury to begin the season, the star forward went to Germany to visit a specialist.
Although it was surprising that he went to Germany, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said it was a general checkup and nothing to worry about.
“More as a general checkup,” Treliving said on November 19. “But also to get some work done on this thing… There’s been no setbacks. Everything’s been, actually, going quite well. We’re just trying to use the days that we’ve got here with less games being played to just try to get this behind us.”
The hope for the Maple Leafs is that Matthews will be in full health for the start of the playoffs.
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