3 key takeaways from today's update on Auston Matthews.

Blockbuster news has a ton of implications.

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Published 5 years ago
3 key takeaways from today's update on Auston Matthews.
Steve Roberts/CSM/Zuma

Earlier this morning the Toronto Maple Leafs department of public relations announced that Maple Leafs' star forward Auston Matthews would miss a minimum of one month as a result of the injury he suffered this past Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets. This is obviously very bad news for the Leafs but there are three main takeaways from today's announce that I believe should be focused on.

#3 Who will replace Auston Matthews.

Realistically the Maple Leafs aren't going to be able to lean on someone from the Toronto Marlies line up to step up and fill the vacancy by one of their top centers. More like the Leafs will lean heavily on forwards John Tavares and Nazem Kadri and beyond those two the Leafs also have Par Lindholm and have leaned on veteran forward Patrick Marleau in the past when Matthews was injured. 

What's interesting here for general manager Kyle Dubas is he is not currently limited by salary cap space, although a call up will almost certainly be made later today the Leafs could take on another player. Even assuming that they sign restricted free agent forward William Nylander the Leafs would still have  over $6 million in cap space left to spend, and that's assuming they give Nylander the $8 million he's reportedly asking for. 

#2 The impact on the Nylander negotiations.

The deadline to get a deal done with the Leafs last remaining RFA is in theory still a month away but you have to believe that the injury to Matthews has now greatly accelerated the urgency from Toronto's perspective. The timing could not possibly have worked out better for Nylander who now has considerably more leverage in the next 4 weeks that he had prior to this announcement. Whether the Maple Leafs eventually sign Nylander or potentially trade him to a team like the Carolina Hurricanes, something that has come up in rumors several times in the past 3 days, they need a player in the line up now more than ever. I believe the injury to Matthews however makes a trade for Nylander less likely, at least in the short term, given Toronto's current need at forward.

Add to that the fact that, in the case of Nylander specifically, the young forward has shown a willingness to play center at the National Hockey League level and could help fill the vacancy left my the Matthews injury. Nylander certainly isn't happy that his teammate got hurt, but if there's one winner coming off the Matthews injury he's definitely it.

#3 Matthews' history of shoulder injuries are a growing concern.

The injury suffered on Saturday night after the big hit from Trouba was to Matthews' left shoulder which means that this was not a reoccurring injury from last season. During the 2017 - 2018 NHL regular season Matthews took a hit from the right side from New York Islander Cal Clutterbuck, that one cost him 20 games at the time. That makes two serious shoulder injuries in two seasons and the third such injury of Matthews' career, it also means that of Matthews' first 3 years as a Leaf he will only have played a full season once. 

Matthews has been an outstanding player in the regular season for the Maple Leafs, just last season he recorded 63 points in 62 games played, but his point production looks considerably less impressive when stretched over a full season. Once again this season Matthews was on an absolute tear, recording 10 goals in his first 11 games and adding 6 assists for a whopping 16 points. But now factor in the reality that Matthews will miss a minimum of 14 consecutive games according to the time frame for recovery established by the Leafs and that's 16 points over 25 games this season. 

To make matters worse opposing teams are now very much aware of Matthews' shoulder issues that although it's not pretty to think about that is certainly something that could be exploited. Would anyone be surprised to see a rival NHL franchises deliberately delivering more hits to Matthews in a playoff scenario in an effort to either put him off his game, or take him out of the game entirely? 

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