Auston Matthews Out Three Weeks With Knee Sprain

The Toronto Maple Leafs will be missing their best player for the next little while, as Auston Matthews is expected to miss a minimum of three weeks with a knee sprain. The injury was suffered against the New York Rangers on Wednesday night. This would also rule Matthews out for the All-Star festivities next week.

There were a number of hard hits delivered by the Rangers earlier this week, though there is no clear answer as to when Matthews sustained the injury. The star center still played nearly 22 minutes in the game, blocking three shots and delivering four shots on net.

In his place, rookie Pontus Holmberg was skating between Calle Jarnkrok and William Nylander, while John Tavares assumes top-line duty. The lack of offensive center depth is a concern for the Maple Leafs, and potentially could become an area of focus at the upcoming trade deadline.

It has been a frustrating season for Matthews, who has missed a handful of games with undisclosed injuries, and isn’t scoring at quite the same pace he is used to. Though he does have 53 points in 47 games, just 25 of those are goals. It would be the first time in his career that he finished with more assists than goals, should that trend continue.

Even more surprising is his lack of even-strength scoring, an area he has dominated throughout his career. In four of Matthews’ six seasons, he has led the league in even-strength goals, including last year when he potted 44 of them. Just 15 tallies this year have come at even strength, with his shooting percentage much lower than his career norm.

Some have speculated that other injuries have disrupted that timing all season, so perhaps Maple Leafs fans will see this time away with a bit of a silver lining. If on his return, Toronto gets the fully-recovered 60-goal superstar that won the Hart Trophy last season, a three-week absence will be a fine price to pay.

In his place at the All-Star game will be Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers.