Auston Matthews placed on IR by Maple Leafs with upper body injury | News, scores, highlights, stats and rumors

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has been placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury announced on Friday. The move is retroactive to November 3.

Head coach Craig Berube had already done that told reporters Matthews would miss a second straight game when the Leafs faced the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night. The IR designation means Matthews will also be sidelined for Saturday’s game against the visiting Montreal Canadiens.

Matthews is eligible to return before the Leafs face the Ottawa Senators at home on Tuesday.

The move allows the Leafs to use the open roster spot to recall Connor Dewar, who is rehabbing in the AHL after offseason surgery.

Berube has described Matthews’ injury as a “day-to-day” issue unrelated to his 2021 wrist surgery, according to NHL.com’s Dave McCarthy.

from Sportnet Elliott Friedman also reported last year that Matthews may have undergone “another minor procedure” on his wrist in 2022.

While he said this latest injury was not related to those wrist problems, Berube told reporters that Matthews “kind of fought through it” in the beginning of the season.

Matthews has scored five goals and 11 points in 13 games this season, a relatively slow start for a player who won his third Rocket Richard Trophy last year with a career-high 69 goals.

He last played for the Leafs on Sunday, when he registered an assist in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild.

In the absence of Matthews third-line center Max Domi centered the first line between Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies against the Bruins.

The Leafs leaned heavily on special teams in the win, going 6-for-6 on the penalty kill and scoring three power-play goals. The 4-0 victory marked a breakthrough for Toronto’s top-ranked power play last in the NHL with a 7.9 percent success rate before Tuesday.

Pontus Holmberg slid from wing to center on the third line to cover Domi in the win, while David Kämpf remained the team’s center on the fourth line. Dewar could potentially fill in on Kämpf’s wing if the Leafs give him the nod on Friday night.

Matthews was sidelined for just one game last season with what the Leafs were doing reported was the flu, marking his most games played since his 2016/17 Calder Trophy campaign. It is expected that he will have to miss at least three games in the 2024/2025 season.

The Leafs went 35-19-2 in the regular season without Matthews and won two playoff games without him last spring, but Max Pacioretty emphasized told reporters on Thursday that there is “no replacement” for the best even-strength scorer in the NHL. Toronto hopes to get him back into the lineup as soon as possible as they look to improve their season-opening record of 7-5-2 and challenge the Florida Panthers for the lead in the Atlantic Division.