Auston Matthews stood looking relaxed in a place he hasn’t been seen much lately: At the front of the Toronto Maple Leafs practice facility locker room.
“From where I was at up to now, I feel night and day, a lot better,” Matthews told reporters. An injury has kept him out of the Leafs lineup since a Nov. 3 overtime loss against the Minnesota Wild. The Leafs are only calling the injury “upper body.”
“Everything’s moving in a positive direction,” Matthews said.
Matthews skated on his own ahead of Leafs practice Saturday. It was his first time on the ice since Nov. 10. Matthews said he and the team will monitor his injury before returning.
“Obviously I’d love to get out there,” Matthews said, adding that expecting a return on Sunday against the Utah Hockey Club is unrealistic.
“Wednesday, possibly,” Matthews said. The Leafs travel to Florida to play the Panthers on Nov. 27. “But we’ll just see how the week goes.”
Matthews’ update undoubtedly provides welcome news for Leafs fans curious about his return. Matthews travelled to Germany for “about five days” to see a doctor to aid in his recovery. The Leafs centre described the doctor as, “Somebody that I’ve seen in the past who is very smart and has been around for a long time.”
When asked, Matthews did not share the specific nature of the injury itself, only stating that it “flared up” during preseason.
“I thought it was time to take a step back, re-evaluate (the injury) and take it day by day. And it hasn’t necessarily gotten worse, but it wasn’t really getting better. So I wanted to be proactive,” Matthews said.
That meant deciding to step away from on-ice action.
“I wanted to just get (the injury) taken care of now,” Matthews said. “And I think that’s maybe something…I wouldn’t call it a mistake, but I guess the mistake I made in the past is maybe coming back, you want to get back and you start to feel good and then you try to jump back into the game and maybe you’re not quite ready yet. So I think with this, just wanted to be mindful and make sure that I’m feeling back as close to 100 percent before we start getting back into game situations and stuff like that, so it’s not something that prolongs throughout the season.”
While flying to Germany in the middle of an NHL season might have seemed like a strange approach, Matthews insisted it shouldn’t be viewed as such. Some of the world’s best athletes regularly travel across the world to take ownership of their injury recovery. A Leafs representative told reporters that the doctor Matthews saw in Germany was one the team has previously worked with.
“I think you see it in the NHL as well as in other leagues that (players) seek second opinions or just seek advice from other areas outside the team,” Matthews said. “So I don’t think it’s something that’s really super abnormal for athletes to take charge with their body.”
It was Matthews who pushed to go to Germany.
Matthews isn’t alone in wanting to take more ownership in injury recovery. Vegas Golden Knights centre Jack Eichel pushed for artificial disk replacement on his neck in 2021. The surgery was something Eichel and his former team, the Buffalo Sabres, didn’t see eye-to-eye on.
“I can’t say whether that opened anyone’s eyes or influenced other people,” Eichel told reporters ahead of the Knights 3-0 loss to the Leafs on Nov. 20. “I did what I felt I needed to do.”
Matthews did just that. And so if flying to a different continent midseason to seek the kind of treatment he wants is a bit of an uncustomary look for NHL players now, it might not be in the future.
“I’m not sure it’s so different. I think just in this market, it gets a little bit blown out of proportion,” Matthews said.
The mysterious nature of the injury has become a source of heightened speculation. Matthews smiled when asked whether he felt any frustration about the continued discussion over his injury.
“I find it comical, honestly. It’s not frustrating. It’s something you just chuckle over because I understand why. But at the same time, it is what it is,” Matthews said.
What’s no laughing matter, however, is how the Leafs have played in the absence of their captain and best player. The Leafs have a 6-1 record without Matthews this season. Injuries have decimated the team’s forward group, with seven regular forwards projected to miss Sunday’s game against Utah.
“That’s been really encouraging,” Matthews said of his team’s play. “So that’s the hard part, but I feel a lot better now. I’m just going to continue to progress for the next couple of days.”
(Photo: Steve Russell / Toronto Star via Getty Images)
