4:15 p.m: According to a team announcement, the Maple Leafs have officially activated from injured reserve and will have him in the forward grouping this evening.
10:58 a.m: The Maple Leafs will welcome back a key piece of their forward tonight. Center Auston Matthews told reporters including NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy that he will be in the lineup against Boston, meaning Toronto will be activating him off injured reserve.
The 27-year-old has missed the last six games after reaggravating the upper-body injury forced him to miss nine games back in November. At that time, he went to Germany to be reassessed and has since acknowledged that the injury is something that may linger for the rest of the season.
He’s expected to reclaim his spot on the top line alongside wingers Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner and intends to play both games over the weekend over being eased back in.
In between his stints on IR, the captain has been relatively productive though not to the level he’s accustomed to. Matthews has 11 goals and 12 assists in 24 games so far this season, good for fourth on the team in scoring despite being out for 15 games already. However, it’s a far cry from the type of per-game output that saw him record at least 60 goals and 106 points in two of the last three seasons although the Maple Leafs aren’t as much of a high-scoring team under new head coach Craig Berube as they’d been in past years with Sheldon Keefe behind the bench.
Toronto has an open spot on its roster following yesterday’s reassignment of defenseman Marshall Rifai to the Marlies so they won’t need to make any moves to bring Matthews back onto the open roster.
Hmm…It’s getting a little peculiar that Matthews seems to always get healthy just when they face a big divisional rival. They did it with Tampa. Now all of a sudden they’re doing it with Boston. I don’t think it’s coincidence either. This is looking a tad bit fishy.
I’m not saying he isn’t dealing with an injury but it’s definitely not as serious as they’re making it out to be. They’re simply saving him.
Is that tinfoil hat sliding down over your eyes? You don’t travel to Germany to treat a fake injury. And anyone who’s watched AM this year knows he’s nowhere near 100%.
Can you not read, genius?…I never said a fake injury. I guess that dunce cap is a rather tight on your head as your comprehension skills are quite inadequate.
lmao touched a nerve I guess
Well that was quick!
Who would save there best player for a game against Boston, The Bruins have 6th place written all over them.