Auston Matthews Out Opening Week for Maple Leafs amid Wrist Injury Rehab

Auston Matthews will miss least the first three games of the regular season as he recovers from a wrist injury, per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.   

Toronto opens its season Wednesday at home against the Montreal Canadiens, and the star center will also miss an away-and-home set against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and Saturday.

"It's coming along well," Matthews told reporters on Sept. 13. "Right now it's a couple more weeks until I can kind of get out of the splint and start kind of really rehabbing and build my strength back. But I mean, as far as timeline goes, I'm going to get back on the ice this week. I'm really hopeful to be able to be ready for Game 1. That's my goal right now. Just take it day-by-day and see how I'm feeling."

The 24-year-old won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie in 2016-17 and the Maurice Richard Trophy as the NHL's No. 1 goal scorer last year. He scored a career-high 41 goals in just 52 games in a regular season shortened to 56 contests because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft has lived up to the hype and then some. The California native has scored 199 goals over his five seasons and never fewer than 34 in any given year.

Toronto had missed the playoffs in 10 of the 11 seasons prior to his arrival. Since then, the Maple Leafs have made the postseason each year.

On Aug. 13, the Maple Leafs announced that Matthews underwent successful wrist surgery.

"Matthews encountered discomfort upon increasing his on-ice training earlier this week," the statement read. "After consultations with specialists and Maple Leafs medical staff, surgery was the recommended course of action. His recovery will be a minimum of six weeks."

Being without Matthews for any amount of time is a tremendous blow to a team that heavily relies on his goal-scoring. He was also tied for second on the Leafs last year with a plus-minus of 21.

Without him, the onus is on players such as Mitchell Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander to keep the Leafs offense in sync.