*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.*******
The Toronto Maple Leafs have dealt with injuries to their goaltending and blueline, and been able to fight through those absences to put up the second-best record in the NHL at 30-11-8, but will now have to go through life without Hart Trophy and Rocket Richard winner Auston Matthews, who the club announced will miss a minimum of three weeks with a knee sprain.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that Matthews suffered the injury in the 3-2 overtime victory over the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
“To be honest, I'm not certain whether there was one specific incident. I noticed him in a little discomfort a couple of times through the game but didn't think much of it at the time.” Keefe said after Matthews was absent from the morning skate in preparation for the Ottawa Senators on Friday. “He was still sore the next day, so they brought him in for an MRI."
Get to know the name Nikita Grebyonkin (#71). The '22 5th-rounder has impressed making the jump to the KHL. Drafted as an OA, he leads the KHL in U20 scoring. 3 G and a shootout G in 2 GP this week
Keefe said that the knee sprain was not related to Matthews missing two games earlier in the month. The injury will prevent the Leafs center, who has 53 points (25 goals, 28 assists) in 47 games, from participating in the NHL All-Star Game in Florida next weekend. The league announced on Friday that Panthers center Aleksander Barkov will take his place on the Atlantic Division squad.
Using the three-week time frame, the earliest that Matthews could return is February 18th vs. Montreal, but if the Leafs choose to place him on LTIR, that would keep him out (a minimum of 10 games and 24 days) until February 26th when Toronto plays the Seattle Kraken. There is no benefit for Toronto to place Matthews on LTIR for salary cap purposes toward the trade deadline since he will be returning before the end of the season.
In his absence, John Tavares will move up to center the top line with Michael Bunting and Mitch Marner, and instead of shifting William Nylander to the middle as Keefe did during Matthews two-game absence, he will move Pontus Holmberg to the middle between fellow Swedes Nylander and Calle Jarnkrok.
“(Holmberg) is a guy that has shown well since he has been here with us, both offensively and defensively,” Keefe said. “He’s a guy that has shown he can play in the league and help us, so there's an opportunity there now."
Zach Aston-Reese will take Holmberg’s spot on the fourth line with Alex Kerfoot and Joey Anderson, Conor Timmins will replace Jordie Benn on the bottom pairing with Rasmus Sandin, and Matt Murray (11-5-2, 2.73 GAA, .911 Save %) will make his first start in over a week against the club that gave him away in a trade last July.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»