When the Toronto Maple Leafs watched as their captain Auston Matthews was helped off the ice after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Radko Gudas of the Anaheim Ducks this past Thursday night, everyone knew it was going to be bad. After all, Matthews hardly ever stays down after taking a physical hit, let alone needing assistance to remove himself from the game.
That suspicion became a reality as it was later learned that Matthews will be done for the rest of the 2025-26 NHL season due to a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion. With that injury announcement, how will it affect the rest of the Maple Leafs with their remaining schedule?
How Matthews’ injury affects the rest of the Maple Leafs season
First of all, whatever faint Stanley Cup hopes that the Leafs had pre-Olympic break was likely all gone following their dismal losing streak following the Olympics, along with their exodus of players at the trade deadline. With the playoffs now practically out of the picture for Toronto, losing Matthews shouldn’t change that.
In fact, one would expect the Leafs to fall further down the standings without their franchise star for the rest of the season. That effect, in a way, should help pave way for Toronto to keep their conditional first-round pick for 2026, as if they finish in the bottom five of the league standings by the end of the year, they won’t need to give it to the Boston Bruins and use it themselves instead.
However, one thing of note is the fact that the Maple Leafs have had a prominent history of playing better without Matthews in their lineup over the course of his tenure with the club. In fact, the Leafs are actually a stellar 47-26-4 when their captain was absent from the lineup. Based on that stat, Toronto could effectively go on a surprising winning run down the stretch. That could be a good thing if they miraculously snag a playoff spot, but a bad thing if it ultimately affects their chances of retaining their 2026 first-round pick in an attempt for a quick retool or rebuild.
Secondly, with Matthews unavailable for the rest of the year, it will give some opportunities to players such as Bo Groulx and Jacob Quillan to show what they could provide to the team and determine whether or not they could be key pieces for the future of the franchise.
In addition, without the Leafs captain in the fold, the Maple Leafs can experiment with different line combinations and see if they can find new chemistry between them. Just like on Saturday, Max Domi was centering a line with Easton Cowan and Matthew Knies, while Groulx was with Dakota Joshua and Nick Robertson. Discovering new units could help Toronto figure out who exactly fits on their roster going forward in creating a winning formula for success.
Finally, by seeing how the Leafs end up playing the rest of the year, Toronto can get a feel the significance of having Matthews as the cornerstone for the franchise. If they end up finding ways to win without their leading captain, then it gives the Maple Leafs the potential wild, improbable yet not impossible option of moving Matthews to obtain difference-making assets to officially reshape their roster for the future.
So whatever effect it ends up having, we will find out in the coming weeks as the Leafs play out the rest of their 2025-26 NHL season.