Auston Matthews’ efforts to return from an upper-body injury have included a visit to a doctor in Germany, but Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving says his star center is making progress and could be back within a week.
“(The trip to Germany for a consultation was) more as a general checkup, but also to get some work done on his thing,” Treliving said Tuesday. “It’s not alarming. It’s something we have been discussing, knowing that he’s going to be getting this week (off). But we are hopeful that once we get through the week here he will be back up and skating, and his return to play would be after that.”
The last time Matthews is known to have skated is Nov. 9, according to NHL.com, although he’s been doing off-ice workouts. Toronto’s captain will miss his seventh straight game when the Maple Leafs (11-6-2) host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
Treliving declined to be more specific about the injury.
“I’m protective of our players,” he said. “We want to share as much as we can — but anything that may put the player in jeopardy, I’m not going to do that. There is (not surgery or any speculation like that. We are in a good spot here where we are getting beyond it.”
However, Treliving would not rule out Matthews playing in the Maple Leafs next game; they host the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday.
“Maybe, maybe not,” he said of a possible return against Utah. “We go to Florida after that, so that’s sort of where I feel more comfortable. Maybe Sunday, but probably after that on the road.
“We haven’t been trying to be cryptic with all this stuff. We’ve been calling (his status) day to day because that’s what he’s been. We’ve looked at the schedule here and what we are trying to do is use this week and hopefully get this thing behind him.”
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Auston Matthews may return next week from injury for Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs visit the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Nov. 27 and the Tampa Bay Lightning three nights later.
The Maple Leafs are pleased with how Matthews’ recovery has gone, according to Treliving.
“There’s been no setbacks,” he said. “Everything has been actually going quite well. We are just trying to use the days we’ve got here with less games being played to try to get this behind us.”
Matthews won the Rocket Richard Trophy last season as the top NHL goal-scorer with a career-high 69 in 81 games. He has 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 13 games this season but has not played since Nov. 3, when he had an assist and three shots on goal in 22:12 of ice time in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild.
The Maple Leafs have fared quite well without their star center. Toronto is 5-1-0 since Matthews’ injury and 40-20-2 all-time without him since he entered the NHL in 2016-17 after being taken with the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft.
“Nobody is going to feel sorry for you in the League,” the Toronto GM said of dealing with the absence of his No. 1 center. “Injuries are part of the NHL. If you can’t sustain them, you’re probably not going to have a whole lot of success. I like how are guys have rallied around and we’ve put some points on the board.”
The objective at this point, Treliving said, is to make sure that Matthews is healthy when he returns from his injury.
“Sometimes (it) takes a little time,” he said. “How’s he holding up? He wants to play, but he also knows we have the long game in mind. He’s doing well here. He’s doing all his workouts. He wants to play, that’s what he does, but he will be back soon here in the not-too-distant future.”
The Maple Leafs recalled center Fraser Minten from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League on Tuesday and placed forward David Kampf on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. The 20-year-old was Toronto’s second-round pick in the 2022 draft and scoreless in four games with the Maple Leafs early last season. He is expected to make his season debut against the Golden Knights, likely on a line with left wing Nicholas Robertson and right wing Pontus Holmberg.