Auston Matthews departs from practice early sparking major concerns
Auston Matthews is crucial to the Maple Leafs de Toronto
Toronto Maple Leafs success this season, but he was recently seen leaving practice early, causing concern among fans.
Over the past few years, Matthews has consistently been one of the National Hockey League's top players. After being named captain this offseason, the team is counting on him to lead them on a deep playoff run in 2024-25. With impressive goal totals of 60, 40, and 69 over the last three seasons, he's one of the league's best goal scorers.
However, today at practice, Matthews left the ice after just 25 minutes, raising alarms for fans and the organization.
Although he was able to walk off on his own, it's still concerning to see the team captain leave practice early. With so much riding on him, an injury at this point in training camp could impact the Leafs' chances of breaking their Stanley Cup drought this season.
UPDATE
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has provided an update on Auston Matthews' status and why he left practice early.
Auston Matthews practiced on a line with Mitch Marner and Steven Lorentz, who returned after missing a few days with an upper-body injury. After Matthews left the ice early, Marner had to fill in for the rest of the session. Defenseman William Villeneuve even switched to forward to complete the line. It's still unclear what issue Matthews is dealing with.
This is Matthews' first season as the Maple Leafs' captain, taking over from John Tavares in a ceremony last month. He's coming off his best season yet, scoring 69 goals and 38 assists in 81 games. Matthews, along with most of the team's veterans, wasn't scheduled to play in the pre-season game against the Ottawa Senatorss later that day.
Calle Jarnkrok was also absent from practice due to a lower-body injury. He had been skating on a line with Max Domi and William Nylander, who was playing center. Nick Abruzzese stepped in to take Jarnkrok's spot. Last season, Jarnkrok scored 10 goals and added 11 assists in 52 games.
We will keep you posted with further updates.
| POLL | ||
24 SEPTEMBRE | 163 ANSWERS Auston Matthews departs from practice early sparking major concerns Will Auston Matthews score 60 or more goals this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 76 | 46.6 % |
| No | 87 | 53.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
