Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews Gives Ominous Answers About Return Timeline

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews is once again M.I.A. with his mystery injury, and once again, the team and fans are getting anxious about just what's going on with the superstar sniper.

Matthews spoke to the media on New Year's Day, and gave an ominous reply about whether rest is the answer to his issues: "I don't know."

‼️🚨🎙️ Auston Matthews on whether rest will help him move past the injury he’s dealing with this season:

“Yeah, I don’t know. I hope so—that’s obviously the goal. It’s tricky with these things sometimes… things happen out there that are out of your control.”

— @nickbarden…
— Leafslatest (@Leafslatest) January 1, 2025

“Yeah, I don’t know. I hope so—that’s obviously the goal. It’s tricky with these things sometimes… things happen out there that are out of your control," said Matthews.

And his response about when he might return was equally ambiguous:

Auston Matthews says he doesn't have a return date in mind: "Take it day by day and hopefully you just keep progressing and we'll see where we're at maybe later this week."

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube: "When he's available, he'll let us know."
— Nick Barden (@nickbarden) January 1, 2025

"Take it day by day and hopefully you just keep progressing and we'll see where we're at maybe later this week."

Head coach Craig Berube wasn't able to shed any more light on Matthews' potential return either. "When he's available, he'll let us know."

Matthews missed nine games in November, then came back for 11 games, and now has missed another five in a row. And while Toronto fared extremely well in that first set of nine, going 7-2-0, it hasn't been quite as positive in this latest stretch of five, as they've gone 2-3-0.

Overall, the Leafs enter the new year in a first-place tie atop the Atlantic Division standings with the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. It's not a bad place to be, considering they've been without their captain for 14 games.