Player Discussion Auston Matthews (Captain Edition)

[RayzorIsDull]

Bro he CHOSE to play.

What was even the logic of playing? Ok he plays to 4NF, but why not rest after that? Playing may not make it worse, but it's 1000000% not gonna make it better.

Rest up until the playoffs, wtf was he doing out there?

I guess we'll never know with Mysterious Matthews. Like last year when he didn't disclose his injuries.

This is our captain? Dude is afraid of disclosing an injury, hows he not gonna be afraid of doing the dirty stuff in game when it matters.

Matthews played in 4 games before the 4 Nations and had 0g 7a. He was obviously cleared to play. Should he have produced more than 7 points in those games?

Disclosing his injury is strictly his prerogative and nobody else's. Why do people care so much? What are you going to do with this information?

 

[Stephen]

He said today that he thinks 3+ months off will help him get back to 100% for the start of next season.

Which begs the question: why not shut it down this season, get back to 100%, and hopefully come back for the playoffs?

Yeah exactly.

Although I suspect the shroud of secrecy over the mystery injury is probably due to the fact that you can’t burn 3 months of a season for purely rest and relaxation and avoid surgery.

There’s no good PR spin here. Either the guy is lightly banged up and needs some downtime, which doesn’t explain his horrific season. Or he’s really banged up and didn’t take care of it properly, and doesn’t appear to plan on taking care of it properly.

So we’ll see how it goes. If he has another big down year, I think you start making other plans.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

He said today that he thinks 3+ months off will help him get back to 100% for the start of next season.

Which begs the question: why not shut it down this season, get back to 100%, and hopefully come back for the playoffs?

Who's to say they make the playoffs if he goes on LTIR?

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Who's to say they make the playoffs if he goes on LTIR?

The team has a better record without him. It's without Marner that the team begins to struggle.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

The team has a better record without him. It's without Marner that the team begins to struggle.

In the last 27 games Matthews played the Leafs attained 40 points out of a total of 54 points for a points % of .740.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

In the last 27 games Matthews played the Leafs attained 40 points out of a total of 54 points for a points % of .740.

That's nice, has nothing to do with what I said or what you said for that matter. Thank God he played hurt (allegedly) for that 27 games, really paid off in the end.

 

[Tak7]

Yeah exactly.

Although I suspect the shroud of secrecy over the mystery injury is probably due to the fact that you can’t burn 3 months of a season for purely rest and relaxation and avoid surgery.

JT Bourne pointed out that Matthews felt teams were targeting his hand when he had hurt it earlier in his career, and since then, has preferred keeping a tight lid on anything ailing him - he even agreed that fear of his injury being targeted is why he chose today not to reveal many details.

Which has me pretty terrified, honestly - even if he says he'll be 100% by next season, the fact that he's keeping it quiet suggests to me that it's probably soemthing he knows he'll have to live with (a back injury, etc).

 

[RayzorIsDull]

That's nice, has nothing to do with what I said or what you said for that matter. Thank God he played hurt (allegedly) for that 27 games, really paid off in the end.

No you merely skipped over the main point that they didn't play better without him. They had 20 points out of 30 without Matthews.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Always injured. Always sick. Never taking onus.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

No you merely skipped over the main point that they didn't play better without him. They had 20 points out of 30 without Matthews.

They did. Statistically proven. You can't cherry pick random segment to justify his selfishness after the fact. Those of us that actually follow the team notice this stuff and acknowledge it in real time.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Always injured. Always sick. Never taking onus

Yes playing in 91% of games available is "always sick and injured."

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Yes playing in 91% of games available is "always sick and injured."

Highest paid player in the league and looked like Danault during the most important stretch of games of his career.

Sick, injured. What other excuses can we make?

 

[JustStopThePuck]

Toronto will never win with Matthews as a captain. He thinks scoring satisfies the responsibility of being a captain and a leader.

 

[MikeS24]

Oh no. Mcdavid went blank in game 6 and 7 I. Stanly Cup finals

If Matthews takes me to Stanly Cup finals, I'll give him the week off

Im surprised mcdavids back and legs weren't falling off from carrying that team along with Draisaitl

Let's cherry pick one series vs Matthews 6.

Draistil and Mcdavid are back in the conference finals back to back years. But let's talk about that one or two games when they weren't mcGods

Draisaitl had a broken finger and rib in those finals from the Vancouver series. He was useless. Even the owner (katz) gave him a pep talk that finals and told him he appreciated him trying, but the team didn't expect him to play. Thrown back on mcDavids line because he could not take faceoffs and couldn't shoot the puck really. Should have been shut down like Kane

 

[MajorLeaf]

History of injuries, even the same with 2022-23 season “undisclosed.” Not liking this as he ages, so which one of these are the lingering issues?

1. 2017–18 Season

• Upper-body injury (likely concussion): Missed four games in November 2017.
• Right shoulder injury: Missed 10 games in February–March 2018 due to a second-degree shoulder separation.

2. 2018–19 Season

• Left shoulder injury: Suffered a shoulder injury in October 2018 (different shoulder than the 2017–18 injury), missing 14 games. This was again a separation but did not require surgery.

3. 2020–21 Season

• Wrist injury: Played through a nagging wrist injury most of the season. He missed a few games and underwent surgery in the offseason to repair the issue.

4. 2021–22 Season

• Wrist surgery (offseason): Underwent wrist surgery in August 2021 but returned for the start of the season.

5. 2022–23 Season

• Undisclosed injury: Missed time in January 2023, later revealed to be a knee sprain. He missed three weeks (five games).
• Played through lingering issues toward the end of the season, although nothing major was officially disclosed.

6. 2024–25 Season

• Undisclosed injury from training camp: Played the entire season managing an injury that affected him intermittently.
• Eye injury: Suffered an eye scare in Game 6 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Second Round after being hit by a stick, but returned and scored a key goal.

 

[weems]

I think my favorite line since this all started was the Hyman - Matthews - Nylander combination.

I remember they were fast, Nylander's speed down the wing opened up space for Matthews to come down the middle and Hyman was a great role player who won puck battles and took up space in front of the net.

Who knows what will happen but Knies - Matthews - Nylander could be a very similar line but Knies offensive upside is better.

 

[Stephen]

JT Bourne pointed out that Matthews felt teams were targeting his hand when he had hurt it earlier in his career, and since then, has preferred keeping a tight lid on anything ailing him - he even agreed that fear of his injury being targeted is why he chose today not to reveal many details.

Which has me pretty terrified, honestly - even if he says he'll be 100% by next season, the fact that he's keeping it quiet suggests to me that it's probably soemthing he knows he'll have to live with (a back injury, etc).

I’m quite concerned that we’ve exited the prime Matthews years and will be living with load and expectations management the rest of this contract.

 

[Stephen]

Toronto will never win with Matthews as a captain. He thinks scoring satisfies the responsibility of being a captain and a leader.

I think it’s even worse than that cause I could live with a generational sniper who struggles on defense.

I worry he’s a five tool player but in any given game you can only have 2 of those tools and he thinks shot blocking and winning faceoffs is as good as scoring. It’s not. We need it all.

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

JT Bourne pointed out that Matthews felt teams were targeting his hand when he had hurt it earlier in his career, and since then, has preferred keeping a tight lid on anything ailing him - he even agreed that fear of his injury being targeted is why he chose today not to reveal many details.

Which has me pretty terrified, honestly - even if he says he'll be 100% by next season, the fact that he's keeping it quiet suggests to me that it's probably soemthing he knows he'll have to live with (a back injury, etc).

He's paid more than McDavid and thinks he won't be a target if he keeps the injury hidden. Every other team reveals injuries regularly. The reality is he thinks he doesn't think he owes anyone anything. And with the way people act like this is okay, he may actually be right. His arrogance and entitlement is disgusting and explains everything about him. That's why he thinks he doesn't have to play hard. And this is the CAPTAIN. That used to mean something... Humiliating to be a fan of this team.

 

[mapleleaf979]

Ill cut 34 some slack for 1 more year, u dont grow 70 goal snipers on tree's. The reason for the slack is an injury he mentions today, personally i dont care about the details, just get right. Matthews is soft and needs more alpha dogs around him to make him flourish. Last year in the playoffs, Domi was very good with 34, 34 felt he needed to pull more on the rope given his linemates. At the start of his career, he had Connor Brown, HYman on his line, as workers and he did well standing out with his linemates, Marner being a dynamic puck carrier he gets lazy and can rely on being spoon fed scoring chances.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Matty has had a back problem since he was 10 years old ffs .. clearly no one can fix it adequately .. i am not even sure Matty even knows what is wrong with his back .. all he knows is rest seems to take down his inflammation .. this is a very very very bad situation .. he has no idear when/why his back flares up and even worse he does not know how to fix it except REST .. to me I trade him before we CAN'T trade him .. who da h*ll knows how long he has left .. bad in every aspect

 

[mapleleaf979]

Matty has had a back problem since he was 10 years old ffs .. clearly no one can fix it adequately .. i am not even sure Matty even knows what is wrong with his back .. all he knows is rest seems to take down his inflammation .. this is a very very very bad situation .. he has no idear when/why his back flares up and even worse he does not know how to fix it except REST .. to me I trade him before we CAN'T trade him .. who da h*ll knows how long he has left .. bad in every aspect

He has had how many wrist surguries, some on the downlow..... I think he has some back issues but also some carpel tunnel issues in his wrist. If u have major back issues, no chance u are checking anyone, this situation would instantly throw the back out. He shoots like he is using a 130 flex stick now, not the whippy 70 flex he would load and release or drag into all different show angles etc. Its not his back, imo.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

He has had how many wrist surguries, some on the downlow..... I think he has some back issues but also some carpel tunnel issues in his wrist. If u have major back issues, no chance u are checking anyone, this situation would instantly throw the back out. He shoots like he is using a 130 flex stick now, not the whippy 70 flex he would load and release or drag into all different show angles etc. Its not his back, imo.

Trust me it is entirely his back .. my younger guy played against him maybe 50 times in spring hockey tournaments in both US and Canada .. he was missing games even back then due to his back flareups .. he was a big kid who grew early .. i have spoken to his parents about it on a few occasions as I was an assistant coach on those teams .. although I have lost touch over past few years it has been exact same problem since he was 10

 

[Stephen]

He has had how many wrist surguries, some on the downlow..... I think he has some back issues but also some carpel tunnel issues in his wrist. If u have major back issues, no chance u are checking anyone, this situation would instantly throw the back out. He shoots like he is using a 130 flex stick now, not the whippy 70 flex he would load and release or drag into all different show angles etc. Its not his back, imo.

In 2024-25 he struggled with enough aspects that it could be anything. Skating was sluggish. Shot was terrible. Hands were impacted. Disengaged and low energy at times. Could be anything.

And he was put into defensive roles where you’d think it was a weird choice to put a hurt guy in the line of fire, or defensive zone where he’s winning faceoffs using his back, shoulder and wrists.

 

[mapleleaf979]

At the 4 nations with the USA, does anyone here think that Matthews hid his injury from his USA squad? NO chance. They all know. He wont tell the Toronto press though. I believe with no proof he has a grip strength issue in his wrist. Notice the 1 timers he took this year, wildly missing the net? He has rarely taken those in his career but had too floating out at the blueline on the PP like he was engaged.