Insider Reveals Power Struggle Between Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman revealed on Monday that the Leafs and Auston Matthews are attempting to find middle ground on how to handle his nagging injury.
Auston Matthews was scratched for a second straight game on Monday as he continues to deal with his season-long nagging injury.
According to head coach Craig Berube, Matthews re-aggravated the injury in Friday's win over the Buffalo Sabres after taking a cross-check to the back.
On Monday's edition of 'The Hockey Show', Elliotte Friedman was asked if the Leafs will attempt to manage the Arizona native's injury by resting him on back-to-backs or at various times throughout the season.
Friedman's response raised some eyebrows as he noted that while the Leafs may not want him to play, Matthews might be the one forcing their hand for a couple of reasons.
"I think that there's a couple of things here. Number one, it is very clear that Matthews wants to play through it. He wants to keep playing. I think a) because players want to play, and b) as the captain, he feels he needs to set an example and to me, it's clear he wants to play. I think then it becomes a question of if a player thinks he's healthy enough to play, can the organization force somebody not to play if they are really concerned about it. I'm sure the Four Nations is apart of this. I'm sure he wants to play in that and I'm sure everybody putting on that tournament would like to see him play in that. I think there is probably a little push and pull there... I think we'll see this develop on a game in, game out basis as the season continues. He's going to have a few days off now... I think the one thing that is obvious here is that everybody in the league saw that highlight where Gilbert cross-checked him and as the games get more meaningful we all know that is going to happen a lot more often."
The Leafs and their fans are hopeful that having a week off through the Christmas break will give Matthews enough time to return to the lineup on Friday when they resume their season. However, with them going straight into a back-to-back, everyone will be keeping a close eye on how the Leafs and Craig Berube manage his ice-time and whether or not they choose to rest him for certain games for the rest of the season.
Matthews has certainly not looked like himself this season, having just 11 goals and 23 points in 24 games.
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