Sheldon Keefe calls out NHL referees for their treatment of superstar Auston Matthews

In case you missed the news earlier today, the Toronto Maple Leafs placed defenseman Rasmus Sandin and forward Mitch Marner on the injured reserve (IR). They also loaned forward Joey Anderson to the AHL's Toronto Marlies and have recalled forward Alex Steeves and defensemen Alex Biega and Kristians Rubins from the Marlies, as well.

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Additionally, TSN 1050 radio host Michael Destefano is reporting that the Leafs may be set to sign Marlies forward Josh Ho-Sang to an NHL contract.

The 25 year old Ho-Sang has a stellar nine goals and 13 points in 15 games with the Marlies to start the season, but is currently signed to an AHL only deal.

Suffice it to say that Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe will be forced to shuffle his lineup over the next week and rely on some of his depth players a little more than he has up until this point of the season. It'll be interesting to see how the Leafs perform in Marner's and Sandin's absences.

One thing we know for sure though is that superstar Auston Matthews is going to continue to shoot and shoot often. The 24 year old has 15 goals and 25 points in 23 games to start the season, but his coach thinks he's capable of even more. More specifically, Keefe feels like Matthews should be getting the benefit of the doubt from NHL officials, who have yet to call a penalty for an infraction on Matthews all season long.

More from Keefe:

- Sheldon Keefe

Indeed Matthews has not draw a penalty this season, but with the team in first place does it really matter? The calls will come and to me Keefe's complaints here comes off a little bit like whining. You're tops in the league and your superstar is scoring goals. Just keep your head down and don't tempt the Hockey Gods.