9:18 p.m.: Toronto Head Coach Craig Berube has provided updates, shared by Jonas Siegel of The Athletic: Stolarz is expected to be “fine”, while Matthews’ injury has no timeline or severity yet, as Berube told Siegel.
8:18 p.m.: Tonight’s game in Boston has dealt a blow to the Maple Leafs: the team announced that Auston Matthews and Anthony Stolarz will not return due to injury. Matthews has been diagnosed with a lower-body injury after taking a hit from behind into the boards from Nikita Zadorov. Meanwhile, Stolarz exited after playing the entire first period. With the Leafs off to a rough start, it appeared the team was just shaking things up between the pipes, but now, the team’s #1 goaltender has been listed with an upper-body ailment on top of their superstar captain’s injury.
Toronto is still trying to find its way in its new, post “Core-Four” era. 8-7-1, the team has fallen to second-to-last in the Atlantic, despite scoring the most goals in their division entering tonight. Sinking the Leafs has been in good part their own end, as they’ve allowed 60.
Matthews, always subject to criticism whether more warranted or not, has done his part with nine goals in 16 games. Now 28, he has been mostly durable in his first nine professional seasons, averaging just shy of 70 games a year. While a hit into the boards from behind from a player like Zadorov sounds highly alarming, it was a relatively routine play. Matthews got up, finished a check on Zadorov moments later in the corner, then skated to the bench without seeming bothered. The captain went to the locker room, but all things considered, it is hopefully not a major injury.
Meanwhile, Stolarz completed the first frame before Dennis Hildeby took over in the net. Given that he had let in three goals on 10 shots, the update from the team that Stolarz is injured came as a bit of a surprise. The 31-year-old former top Flyers prospect is the latest example of a late-blooming goaltender, tasked with holding things down for Toronto into the near future. Stolarz was extended for four more years at $3.75MM after a strong 2024-25, where he posted a .926 in 34 games in his first campaign wearing the blue and white.
Thankfully, Stolarz appears to have avoided a serious injury, as Toronto awaits the return of Joseph Woll from personal leave. Woll has been practicing with the team and appeared with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies last weekend, but has no timetable to return yet. Cayden Primeau was a waiver casualty to Carolina last week after a short stint. Hildeby, currently serving as backup, has just eight NHL games under his belt.
The Maple Leafs are back in action on Thursday, hosting the Kings, and further details on the status of their superstar, Matthews, will be closely watched in the meantime.
Season is up in flames. Nothing will change. Need a fire sale before the deadline. Either Matthews and or Nylander should be out the door as well. Maybe Matthews in the summer finally dealt for a fresh start.
Treliving better have the balls to do it! Organization is badly in need of a major retooling or even full rebuild as well as restocking of draft capital. Anyone outside of the goalies, Knies, Tavares and Cowan should be on the block.
Yes, because nothing smells of success like trading superstars for speculative draft picks. (rolls his eyes)
Although as a Bruins fan? Sure, trade Matthews, trade Nylander, unload the bums who score in heaps for Toronto. You can’t be having THAT, after all. Go Leafs!
Who score in heaps?
If you subtract the Empty Net Goals Matthews barely makes the top 50 in goal scoring and looking at the point total he isn’t even in the top 50 with his ENGs.
But despair not! The magical mystery Matthews injury has arrived again to explain his lack of productivity. Same procedure as last year(s)?
Might be tough to accomplish considering Matthews and Nylander have NMCs.
The real question is why keep rolling the same group out there season after season when everyone knows it’s not working, hasn’t worked and will never work!?
At some point soon either one or both of Matthews/Nylander must go. It’s insane to keep counting on two losers together making over $24m per season and not come close to even getting to the Finals.
Best and only logical route for them to take is trading as many veterans they can, restock draft capital which is non existent thanks to many failed trades over the last several years by both Dubas and Treliving, build around the goalies, Knies, Cowan and Tavares as the lone main veteran and prepare for the future.
If not then it’s going to be a very long and dark decade to come.
That’s why they’ll have to wait until the summer to finally deal him to a west coast team – change of scenery finally (LA, SEA, SJS).
@ gunny76: You’re smoking whacky weed, right? Matthews and Nylander, between them, have scored nearly SEVEN HUNDRED GOALS in their careers to date. Nearly THREE HUNDRED between them in the last three years and into this season. Only McDavid/Draisaitl can match that, and they don’t better it by a whole lot. And you’re claiming it’s all because of empty net goals?
(Kind of ironic, because Edmonton is the only fan base that approaches Toronto’s in the “Nothing Counts Without A Cup Win” nonsense, but there you go.)
But hey, as I said, I’m a Bruins’ fan. I’m entirely cool with the cementheads in GTA driving Matthews and Nylander out for a heap of draft picks. Some of them might actually be NHL-caliber players, and then the cementheads can jeer at THEM for falling short.
There season might be over looool
Keith’s use of adjectives is so completely nauseating….the worst leaf lemming writing I have ever seen.
I’ve seen worse shilling on Sportsnet for sure, but I did have to reread multiple sentences in this piece to try to figure out what the heck was being said. Proofreading is hard, I guess.
Treliving didn’t have a resume before he got the gig in Toronto, Then their’s the, Making Marner the scapegoat two years in a row, During the playoffs, And Let’s not forget the arrogance of the fanbase, The out of control Toronto media. The Maple Leafs are exactly where they deserve to be!!!!
Simon Benoit looks like the version who was non-tendered by a terrible Ducks team and Phillipe Myers would have trouble cracking an AHL lineup. Rielly would be a #3 or #4 on some teams and Carlo looks cooked. McCabe is playing like he gets paid per turnover.
That’s the problem with Treliving’s vision of building a “big” D corps at the expense of foot speed or puck moving ability. When these guys get up there in age it can go sideways fast.
At least they have their 1st round pick next ye– oops, never mind. Ah, well, there’s always the 2027 1st rou- ohhh, right…
This team died when they traded Kadri all those years ago. No one has taken them seriously since.
The Leafs aren’t looking very good for the foreseeable future, missing the playoffs this year may be for the best.
Leafs will never even have a chance to win until Matthews shaves that pud mustache.