The Toronto Maple Leafs are confident they have a clear understanding of Auston Matthews’ current condition and what’s to come in the near future.
In the first season of a 4-year contract that made him the most expensive player in the NHL, 2024-25 hasn’t gone as planned for the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Not only did Auston Matthews start off very slow on the offensive side of the puck, but he has been dealing with an upper-body injury since the pre-season that has caused some serious concern.
Matthews ended up missing 9 games in November with a mysterious injury that went from day-to-day to week-to-week, and then to him making a trip to Germany to see a specialist. He came back and played in 12 more games before re-aggravating the same injury.
As we enter the Christmas break, the extra days off should be a boon for the captain. However, his return to game action after the break is still deemed questionable.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom, as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston took to First Up on TSN 1050 and gave us an update on how the Maple Leafs are seeing things and their confidence level in his return to action.