Auston Matthews Injury Update, Latest News on Maple Leafs Star's Status and Timeline to Return

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews will miss the rest of the 2025-26 season with a knee injury.

Matthews will be reevaluated in two weeks after suffering a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion on a knee-on-knee collision with Anaheim Ducks forward Radko Gudas, the Maple Leafs announced Friday.

The collision between Matthews and Gudas took place in the second period of the Maple Leafs' 6-4 win over the Ducks on Thursday.

Gudas was assessed a five-game suspension, the maximum possible following a virtual hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety, on Friday.

"Looking at it, we lose our guy, our captain for the year. It doesn't seem like enough for me," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. "You lose your star player for the year. The guy doing it is a repeat offender. It just doesn't seem like enough."

Leafs defenseman Morgan Reilly indicated after the game he regretted not having a more visible response to the play, on which Gudas was assessed a five-minute major.

Reilly added, however, he felt his team responded to the hit by scoring four straight goals after Matthews was helped off the ice.

"I didn't understand how bad he got him in the moment, but I take full responsibility for not being the first one in there, or being quicker to respond... but ultimately, when your captain goes down like that on a dirty play, you have to respond as a group," Reilly said Thursday night.

The incident took place less than a month since Gudas collided with Canada's Sidney Crosby while playing for Czechia in the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic quarterfinals. Crosby suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in that game and has yet to return to NHL action.

Matthews' injury news makes it even more likely that the Leafs will miss the playoffs for the first time since selecting Matthews at the top of the 2016 draft.

Toronto, a franchise that already waved the white flag by selling Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton and Nicolas Roy for picks at the trade deadline, is now sitting 11 points back of the last Wild Card spot in the East with just 16 games remaining.

Thursday's win over the Ducks also marked the Leafs' first victory in seven games since the Olympic break, a span over which Toronto has gone 1-4-2.

Matthews' season-ending injury means the 28-year-old will finish out the campaign without putting up at least a point per game for the first time in his 10-season NHL career.

The three-time Rocket Richard winner will close out the season with 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points in 60 games.

Matthews, who established himself as one of the best even-strength scorers in the history of the NHL over his first eight seasons with Toronto, has seen his production drop in the last two seasons.

After racking up 69 goals two seasons ago, Matthews was held to 33 goals during a 2024-25 campaign after which he said he had been playing through a season-long injury.

He recorded his career-low goal total this season after losing former linemate Mitch Marner in a pre-free agency trade to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Getting Matthews back to his former level of even-strength dominance after he recovers from his injury will be key to the Leafs' hopes of returning to the playoff picture in 2027.