Maple Leafs Place Auston Matthews on Injured Reserve, Recall Defenseman From Marlies

Amid reports that Auston Matthews had returned to practice and that a return to game action may be imminent, the Maple Leafs threw everyone for a loop on Tuesday when they placed Matthews on injured reserve and recalled defenseman Marshall Rifai from the Toronto Marlies.

Matthews has missed 4 games already since re-aggrivating his injury against the Buffalo Sabres, and is slated to miss his 5th consecutive today against the New York Islanders. This, after also missing 9 games in November with the same injury.

With Matthews' issue being a consistent problem dating back to the pre-season, there has been a lot of concern over whether or not he should be playing at all until he's at 100% full health. Matthews' placement on IR (retroactive to December 20th) on Tuesday had some believing that perhaps his absence would be a prolonged one.

While some saw the news and instantly began to panic, several reporters, including NHL Insiders Elliotte Friedman and Chris Johnston, were quick to report that this was primarily a paper transaction to allow the Leafs to call up Marshall Rifai from the Marlies with Oliver Ekman-Larsson sidelined with an illness. Matthews may still return return week.

During an appearance on TSN 1050's First Up on Tuesday, The Hockey News' David Alter mentioned that he believes we could see Matthews suit up on Thursday, January 2nd against the Islanders in the 2nd game of their home-and-home. If the reporting from Johnston and Friedman is accurate, we could see Alter's speculation come to fruition.

There's still a great debate over whether the Maple Leafs should request that Matthews sit out the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, but perhaps it's better for us to simply wait and see how he's feeling after his second stint on the shelf.

If his injury is truly minor enough that he can manage it and play through it, perhaps we'll see him play for Team USA yet.