The Toronto Maple Leafs will be facing another major setback heading into the offseason, as their captain and star forward, Auston Matthews, is expected to require surgery to fix his season-ending injury, according to Sportsnet.
Leafs' Auston Matthews requires surgery to fix season-ending injury
The procedure will be part of the recovery process for his Grade 3 MCL tear. This should have no effect on his recovery timeline as the expectation is still that Matthews will be ready to return for the start of the 2026-27 season. Matthews suffered the injury against the Anaheim Ducks following a knee-on-knee collision with Ducks captain Radko Gudas.
The play of the injury consisted of a pass to Matthews from William Nylander, as Matthews positioned himself to the front of the net, Gudas cut across the crease to clip Matthews' lower body. The Scottsdale native immediately hit the ice in a noticeable amount of pain. Matthews was visible in pain, needing assistance off the ice, and later did not return to the game. The Maple Leafs later received a lot of criticism for not sticking up for their captain and not immediately responding to the play.
Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews continue to struggle
The following day, Matthews was ruled out for the remainder of the season, delivering a major blow in an already struggling Maple Leafs lineup. Gudas was later suspended for five games for the incident. The focus will now be on Matthews' recovery as they will need him at his best with any chance of qualifying for the postseason. Matthews' injury ended what was already a disappointing season for the Maple Leafs captain, as he registered a career low 27 goals and 53 points in 60 games. The 28-year-old had taken a step back in production during the 2024-25 season, but this season provided another reason to believe Matthews is no longer the player he once was.
The Maple Leafs are hoping for an easy recovery as they gear up to retool the roster for next season. With only two years remaining on his $13.25 million deal, the next couple of seasons will prove to be very important regarding both sides' futures.