After suffering an injury at some point in the first few weeks of the season, Auston Matthews was placed on injured reserve on November 8th, retroactive to November 3rd, and recently travelled to Germany to get treatment on his mysterious upper-body injury.
His trip to Germany raised eyebrows and concerns from Leafs fans and the Toronto media, even if the Leafs did their best to downplay his trip.
However, according to Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, Matthews has made massive strides in his recovery while overseas, receiving his treatment in Germany.
Not only has his recovery gone well, but Seravalli revealed Matthews' expected return date on Amazon's 'Coast to Coast' show on Thursday.
The Leafs are 6-1 in his absence this season and are 41-20-2 all-time without the former first-overall pick in the lineup. However, with injuries to David Kampf, Max Domi, Calle Jarnkrok as well as the suspension to Ryan Reaves, the Leafs' forward group is extremely thin currently.
Hopefully, as Seravalli noted, Matthews' injury is behind him when he returns and the three-time Rocket Richard winner will be back to his old self come Wednesday when he is expected to return against the Florida Panthers.
Through 13 games this season, Matthews had just 5 goals and 11 points, which led to concerns over his health from fans prior to any official injury announcement.
POLL | ||
22 NOVEMBRE | 3923 ANSWERS NHL Insider Reveals Auston Matthews' Return Date for the Maple Leafs Do you think Matthews' injury will be behind him when he returns? | ||
Yes | 1084 | 27.6 % |
No, he will continuously deal with it | 1908 | 48.6 % |
Wait and see approach | 931 | 23.7 % |
List of polls |