The hits just keep on coming for the Toronto Maple Leafs. News emerged on Friday that forward and team captain Auston Matthews is out for the rest of the season. Team officials made the announcement that the veteran forward suffered a Grade 3 MCL tear and a crowd contusion.
Toronto Maple Leafs Captain Auston Matthews Out for Rest of Season
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and will miss the rest of the NHL season.
Toronto’s captain exited the game after suffering an injury in a knee-on-knee collision with Anaheim Ducks defenceman and captain Radko Gudas. This occurred 15:47 of the second period and Gudas was a major penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct. The Czech blueliner had a phone hearing for the hit. However, no suspension was issued as of the time of writing.
Matthews will finish the 2025-26 season with 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points in 60 games. The 28-year-old averaged 20 minutes and 48 seconds of ice time this season. He had a Corsi for of 49.8 and a relative Corsi of 6.7.
The San Ramon, Calif. native is the Maple Leafs’ all-time leading goalscorer with 428. Matthews also has 352 assists for a total of 780 points. He was the first overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft by Toronto.
(Credit Image: © Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire)
What It Means
This injury seems to sum up the woes that the Maple Leafs have had this season. Toronto has been bit by the injury bug and inconsistent play, which sees Toronto 11 points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
One thing that was also worrying was the lack of response from the team after injury. The Maple Leafs did get a 6-4 win for their first victory since the Olympic break. However, there was no physical response from the club from any of the players on the ice.
Toronto head coach Craig Berube was upset by the Gudas hit and the lack of a response from the team. The Leafs will be without its captain for a big chunk of games for the second consecutive season.
Main photo by: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
