Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews gets crushing injury update after scary Radko Gudas incident

The Toronto Maple Leafs received some terrible news on the injury status for their captain, Auston Matthews, after his knee-on-knee hit from Radko Gudas. Matthews was taken out of the game on Thursday night against the Anaheim Ducks, with Gudas also receiving a major penalty and a game misconduct. The Ducks’ captain is also awaiting a decision on supplementary discipline after having a hearing on Friday afternoon.

The Maple Leafs announced on Friday evening that Matthews suffered a grade 3 MCL tear and a quad contusion, which will keep him out of the lineup for the rest of the regular season.

Toronto’s playoff chances are long gone, and keeping their captain out of the lineup might actually help them in the long run to gain back their first-round pick that has top-five protection. However, losing him for the season from a knee injury isn’t the best way to get some of their minor leaguers in the lineup, especially with all the uncertainty about his future with the club.

The good news for the Maple Leafs is that the injury wasn’t something more serious, like an ACL or PCL tear. The speculation is that the last-second move to lift his foot off the ice before contact helped save him from much more extensive damage.

While the Auston Matthews injury was a significant storyline coming out of the game, the expected suspension length and the lack of a response from his Maple Leafs teammates stole the headlines on Friday afternoon. With Toronto in turmoil this season, this is just another layer of drama heading into an important offseason for the organization.

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