Insider: Maple Leafs "Breathing Sigh of Relief" That Matthews Still Out of Lineup

Auston Matthews has now missed six games with an undisclosed injury, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are "breathing a sigh of relief" over the fact he's not rushing his return, according to hockey insider Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff.

But no, it's not because the team has gone 5-1-0 in Matthews' absence. Speaking on the Oilers Now podcast this weekend, Seravalli explained:

I'll tell you what. The Leafs are actually, believe it or not, breathing a sigh of relief... They were very quietly hoping 'hey, I hope he takes some time to really let this heal.'
He's very quiet about injuries, but we were told that it's of the nagging variety, and they really want to make sure that when he is back, it's not something that lingers, and that it's nipped in the bud... And that they know that he'll be at 100%... They are 'A-OK' with however long this takes.

One of the fortunate aspects of this is that the Leafs have a fairly light schedule at the moment, with only one game this entire week, on Wednesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, then don't play again until next Sunday, hosting the Utah HC.

Fellow insider Elliotte Friedman echoed those sentiments, stating on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday night that Matthews isn't likely to return within the next week, and that the Leafs are "not panicked at all" and are taking it very cautiously.

The captain is off to a relatively slow start this season, with five goals and 11 points in 13 games. He's coming off a 69-goal season, the best mark in the NHL this century.