Auston Matthews Placed on IR by Maple Leafs with Upper-Body Injury

Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews has been placed on the injured reserve with an upper-body injury, the team announced on Friday. The move is retroactive to Nov. 3.

Head coach Craig Berube had already told reporters Matthews would miss a second straight game as the Leafs faced the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night. The IR designation means Matthews will also be sidelined for Saturday's contest against the visiting Montreal Canadiens.

Matthews will be eligible to return before the Leafs face the Ottawa Senators at home on Tuesday.

The move allows the Leafs to use the open roster spot to recall Connor Dewar, who has been rehabbing in the AHL from offseason surgery.

Berube has described Matthews' injury as a "day-to-day" issue that is not related to his 2021 wrist surgery, per NHL.com's Dave McCarthy.

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman also reported last year that Matthews "may have had another, minor procedure" on his wrist in 2022.

While saying this newest injury was not related to those wrist issues, Berube told reporters that Matthews has been "fighting through it a little bit" through the early stretch of the season.

Matthews has recorded five goals and 11 points in 13 games this season, a relatively slow start for a player who won his third Rocket Richard trophy with a career-high 69 goals last year.

He last played for the Leafs on Sunday, when he registered an assist in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild.

In Matthews' absence, third-line center Max Domi centered the first line between Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies against the Bruins.

The Leafs leaned heavily on special teams in the win, going 6-for-6 on the penalty kill while scoring three power-play goals. The 4-0 victory marked a breakthrough for the Toronto power play, which ranked last in the NHL with a 7.9 percent success rate before Tuesday.

Pontus Holmberg slid from wing to center on the third line to cover for Domi in the win, while David Kämpf remained the team's fourth-line center. Dewar could potentially slot in on Kämpf's wing should the Leafs give him the nod on Friday night.

Matthews was sidelined for just one contest last season with what the Leafs reported was the flu, marking his most games played since his 2016-17 Calder Trophy campaign. He is now slated to miss a minimum of three games in 2024-25.

The Leafs have gone 35-19-2 in the regular season without Matthews and won two playoff games without him last spring, but Max Pacioretty emphasized to reporters on Thursday that there is "no replacing" the best even-strength scorer in the NHL. Toronto will hope to get him back in the lineup as soon as possible as they look to improve their 7-5-2 season-opening record and challenge the Florida Panthers for the Atlantic Division lead.