Injury Report: Matthews - Day to Day - Placed on IR

[Stephen]

If they don't want the fans to whine, they should show up in the playoffs or not try and take every last dollar so we can sign the help they apparently need in the playoffs.

Matthews is fortunate Marner is small, arrogant, a winger and has no years left on his contract because he has been as bad as him in the playoffs.

It's about winning at the end of the day or at least making runs. Toronto appreciated the f*** out of Mats because he was a warrior who showed up in the playoffs, he and Matthews both didn't/haven't won anything though, but the public perception is different because one guy actually showed up in the playoffs and the other guy not really.

For me, it's simple. Auston Matthews has been fantastic his whole career in Toronto up to this point, walked into contract negotiations, dictated a bespoke length that suits his own ambitions, MLSE gave him the highest AAV in the league and everyone walked away happy with those arrangements.

Now go deliver: be up in the Art Ross race and Rocket race. Be in contention for those individual awards, which fuels team success, and go dominate playoffs like your peer group and get after a championship as captain and standard bearer. Why are we whispering load management and bargaining away regular seasons for a playoff run? The AAV doesn't come down, why should expectations?

 

[Arthur Morgan]

If you play like you care in Toronto you are appreciated forever.

Grinders who give their all are remembered for decades let alone stars.

I will forever love Darcy Tucker. even more so than Domi. that guy was everything I loved about hockey. for a season or 2 he was a threat as a goalscorer too but holy he was such a fun player to watch.

 

[Stephen]

It certainly will allow them to punt the trade decision of some other players a bit longer. If Matthews is likely going to need some extended time, might as well take advantage of it

Can't see that "advantage" going on for more than a couple of games, since you'd rather have Matthews playing when ready than fret over keeping or losing a Dewar level player.

But with the way Matthews was playing I did think they might give him a couple of weeks off as load management. Slow rolling the mystery injury for a week, then slow rolling the recovery over the next few games, back by next weekend kind of thing.

 

[Menzinger]

Can't see that "advantage" going on for more than a couple of games, since you'd rather have Matthews playing when ready than fret over keeping or losing a Dewar level player.

But with the way Matthews was playing I did think they might give him a couple of weeks off as load management. Slow rolling the mystery injury for a week, then slow rolling the recovery over the next few games, back by next weekend kind of thing.

I don't think they'd do this for load management in the way the NBA and NFL approach it. He's injured and needs time, not rest for the sake of rest.

Formally using IR gives the team more options to play around with on the roster

 

[Stephen]

I don't think they'd do this for load management in the way the NBA and NFL approach it. He's injured and needs time, not rest for the sake of rest.

Formally using IR gives the team more options to play around with on the roster

I really don't like the way the Leafs handle Matthews injuries like state secrets, the lack of specificity and transparency makes it hard to weigh whatever he's dealing with and missed time, dip in quality of play, etc. versus when Marner is just out with a high ankle sprain or whatever.

 

[Confucius]

3.0 goal scored with Mathews this season, 3.3 without the last 2 years ( 10games).
We should be fine.

TEAM	DATE	TM		OPP	RESULT	G	GA	PPG	PPO	OPP PPG	OPP PPO	S	SA
1		Maple Leafs	1/11/2023	TOR	vs	NSH	W 2-1	2	1	1	5	0	2	35	33
2		Maple Leafs	1/12/2023	TOR	@	DET	L 1-4	1	4	0	3	2	5	33	23
3		Maple Leafs	1/27/2023	TOR	vs	OTT	L 2-6	2	6	1	3	1	5	33	34
4		Maple Leafs	1/29/2023	TOR	vs	WSH	W 5-1	5	1	1	2	1	4	27	24
5		Maple Leafs	2/1/2023	TOR	vs	BOS	L 2-5	2	5	1	2	0	1	35	29
6		Maple Leafs	2/10/2023	TOR	@	CBJ	W 3-0	3	0	1	4	0	3	41	30
7		Maple Leafs	2/11/2023	TOR	vs	CBJ	L 3-4	3	4	1	1	0	4	29	40
8		Maple Leafs	4/11/2023	TOR	@	TBL	W 4-3	4	3	2	6	0	8	24	48
9		Maple Leafs	12/16/2023	TOR	vs	PIT	W 7-0	7	0	2	7	0	3	35	38
10		Maple Leafs	11/5/2024	TOR	vs	IBOS	W 4-0	4	0	3	7	0	6	27	29
		Total						33	24	13	40	4	41	319

 

[BallardEra]

I get the feeling that more is going on here than the Leafs are letting on. It seems like they have been avoiding surgery and instead have had him playing through something with other ways of working to make it better.

Kypreos implied that it was not his wrist or shoulder. Could it be his back then?

Either way, I think it will continue to bother him in one way or another throughout the season.

 

[IPS]

I'm honestly over the whole guessing game with what's going on with Matthews. Actually kind of annoying how this organization has zero transparency about everything regarding him, last playoffs and all too.

 

[crump]

I'm honestly over the whole guessing game with what's going on with Matthews. Actually kind of annoying how this organization has zero transparency about everything regarding him, last playoffs and all too.

 

[BallardEra]

If he returns on Tuesday and doesn’t miss any more games the rest of the season, this is what he will have to do in order to finish with 50 or 60 goals.


50 goals:

45 goals in the remaining 66 games which is a 56 goal pace over 82 games.


60 goals:

55 goals in the remaining 66 games which is a 68 goal pace over 82 games.

 

[Stephen]

I'm honestly over the whole guessing game with what's going on with Matthews. Actually kind of annoying how this organization has zero transparency about everything regarding him, last playoffs and all too.

I find the injury reports to Matthews, Nylander and Woll were pretty cryptic and unsatisfying because you can't understand the magnitude of the injuries or the timelines they get pulled from the roster, or when they come back.

Versus more straight forward reports like Jarnkrok has a sports hernia or Marner has a high ankle sprain, etc.

When you hear vague stuff like "tightness" it's like, well did his leg fall off?

 

[Stephen]

If he returns on Tuesday and doesn’t miss any more games the rest of the season, this is what he will have to do in order to finish with 50 or 60 goals.


50 goals:

45 goals in the remaining 66 games which is a 56 goal pace over 82 games.


60 goals:

55 goals in the remaining 66 games which is a 68 goal pace over 82 games.

Feels like this year is shaping up to be a statistical write off, maybe he hits 40 if he gets his health, conditioning and weight of captaincy right.

 

[Chief Leaf]

Even though Matthews is good at defending, sometimes I kinda wish our team would go old school and have players from the 3rd and 4th line to take over the penalty kills. Maybe Matthews and even Marner for this instance would be able to dig even deeper not having to play on their lines, the powerplay and the penalty kill.

 

[Roo]

I really don't like the way the Leafs handle Matthews injuries like state secrets, the lack of specificity and transparency makes it hard to weigh whatever he's dealing with and missed time, dip in quality of play, etc. versus when Marner is just out with a high ankle sprain or whatever.

we really have no idea what is going on, but I doubt it is load management. He hasn’t looked the same, and clearly something is holding him back. I’ve found that when they are secretive, it’s generally when a player won’t be fully recovered when he is back and they don’t want the other teams to take liberties. Which is why they never reveal anything in the playoffs. Could be a rib injury, or perhaps even something that is sensitive to the player they don’t want revealed. Bottom line, there is likely some reason why they are secretive in some cases and not in others.

Doubt Auston forgot how to play over the summer. He has nothing yo prove in the regular season, but he and the team have everything to prove in the postseason. So I am fine by it.

 

[hockeywiz542]

 

[Stephen]

we really have no idea what is going on, but I doubt it is load management. He hasn’t looked the same, and clearly something is holding him back. I’ve found that when they are secretive, it’s generally when a player won’t be fully recovered when he is back and they don’t want the other teams to take liberties. Which is why they never reveal anything in the playoffs. Could be a rib injury, or perhaps even something that is sensitive to the player they don’t want revealed. Bottom line, there is likely some reason why they are secretive in some cases and not in others.

Doubt Auston forgot how to play over the summer. He has nothing yo prove in the regular season, but he and the team have everything to prove in the postseason. So I am fine by it.

Possible, but other players have well documented injuries as well, such as a Connor McDavid coming back from an ankle injury this week. That fact is known, and his ankle is out there for anyone to take a whack at. Whereas with load management it's vague and slow rolled.

 

[Welsh Maple Leaf]

If you play like you care in Toronto you are appreciated forever.

Grinders who give their all are remembered for decades let alone stars.

Swap him for a grinder then. All the best.

 

[mjd1001]

No, this ain’t it at all.

If Matthews needs NBA style load management to maybe show up in the playoffs, you don’t build around him.

NBA load management culture worked out really well for the Raptors that one year with Kawhi but it did nothing for the LA Clippers. Joel Embiid missed a ton of games for the 76ers. Doesn’t work for them.

Superstars need to be great, there’s no lowering the bar here.

I'm not saying the bar SHOULD be lowered, but maybe the team would do better in the playoffs if it was.

Its not a matter of whether you should or shouldn't build around him whether he needs load management or not. The Leafs DID it already, so at this point there is no going back. The question now is what will make him play better for the team in the playoffs.

 

[BraveCanadian]

Swap him for a grinder then. All the best.

 

[Roo]

Possible, but other players have well documented injuries as well, such as a Connor McDavid coming back from an ankle injury this week. That fact is known, and his ankle is out there for anyone to take a whack at. Whereas with load management it's vague and slow rolled.

If it’s load management, this will happen multiple times in the season. This seems acute and a one time deal. The fact they aren’t telling us what it is doesn’t mean Auston can’t manage the load of a season. It’s much more likely that something is bothering him and they are making sure he gets to 100%. There is no reason to play through injury right now, even if it is minor, and risk it getting worse.

 

[usernamezrhardtodo]

If you play like you care in Toronto you are appreciated forever.

Grinders who give their all are remembered for decades let alone stars.

Who else remembers "Motor City Smitty"? That guy was beloved for his efforts...

 

[BallardEra]

Who else remembers "Motor City Smitty"? That guy was beloved for his efforts...

 

[MilkofthePoppy]

I hope he stays out until he is 100 percent.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Sure buddy.


Like I said, I hope you all get your own way and he moves on at some point.

Should we send him to Llareggub?

 

[Mr_Fun]

Who else remembers "Motor City Smitty"? That guy was beloved for his efforts...

I remember him and Brubaker...lol