Latest Report on Auston Matthews Concerning for the Maple Leafs

Auston Matthews was shut down for the Leafs' final two games before the Christmas break due to an upper-body injury with the team hopeful he would return on Friday. Unfortunately, that doesn't appear to be the case.

Recently, Leafs head coach Craig Berube revealed that Matthews re-aggravated an injury in last Friday's game against Buffalo after receiving a cross-check to his back/side.

The cross-check ultimately kept the 2016 first-overall pick out of the lineup on Saturday against the New York Islanders and again on Monday against the Winnipeg Jets.

While the Leafs and Matthews don't have concerns about it, fans have become very concerned for the Arizona product.

The Leafs and Matthews were hopeful that he would be able to return to the lineup on Friday against the Detroit Red Wings after an extended Christmas Break, but as the Leafs took to the ice for practice Friday morning, Matthews was nowhere to be seen.

Matthews being absent from the morning skate indicates that he will not be returning to the lineup on Friday night.

The Leafs' captain missed 9 games in November and even travelled over to Germany for treatment of his injury in the hopes that it would give him a clean bill of health.

Unfortunately, Matthews has not looked like the version fans have become accustomed to in seasons past, with TSN's Mike Johnson even pointing out the three-time Rocket Richard winner has lost velocity on his shot and is skating much slower than last season during their last broadcast.

If these things are noticeable to an analyst, other teams are certainly taking note of it as well.

At this point, I'm sure fans would almost prefer Matthews to have surgery or rehab the injury until he is 100-percent healthy instead of attempting to 'manage' it throughout the season and limp into the playoffs.

With the Leafs coming out of the break with a back-to-back, it is unlikely Matthews suits up at all this weekend given that he missed Friday's practice and the Leafs are unlikely to skate on Saturday morning since they travel home to Toronto following tonight's game.