Report: Matthews injury concussion related?

In this morning’s post-skate media scrum, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock was asked about superstar Auston Matthews and whether or not his “upper body injury” is, in fact, a concussion.

Babcock seemed to bristle at the suggestion and responded with, “I didn’t know he had a concussion.” Shortly afterward TSN’s Kristen Shilton and Frank Seravalli, discussed whether or not the injury could be concussion related. 

Shilton posed the question to Babcock, “did Matthews undergo concussion protocol after collision in Sunday’s game?“ While Babcock was dismissive with his tongue-in-cheek answer, Seravalli admits that “all signs would indicate that that’s [concussion protocol] exactly what Auston Matthews went through”.

Officially Matthews is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury. Don’t expect any further announcement from the Leafs regarding his availability until prior to Thursday’s game against the Minnesota Wild.