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Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews undergoes minor procedure

By Austin Owens

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 21: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates a goal against the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 21, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 21: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates a goal against the Boston Bruins in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on April 21, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Bruins defeated the Maple Leafs 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews had a small procedure done on Thursday and it isn’t expected to have a big impact on his off-season.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews underwent a procedure to remove surgical hardware from a 2014 surgery, the team announced Thursday.

The procedure, however, won’t keep Matthews out for any period of time.

Matthews suffered a broken femur in just his second game with the U.S. National Under-17 Program after a knee-on-knee collision. Screws had to be placed in his leg as a result.

In October, Matthews was forced out of the Leafs’ game against the Winnipeg Jets after taking a hit. He suffered an upper-body injury and was forced to sit out of 14 games. He also missed 20 games last season with similar ailments.

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He returned from injury and proceeded to finish the year with 37 goals and 73 points in 68 contests.

Once the playoffs rolled around, all eyes were on the 21-year-old, who was criticized heavily for his lack of production during the 2018 postseason. He would silence all of his doubters in the seven-game series against the Boston Bruins, posting five goals and six points in the series.

Unfortunately for him and his teammates, there will be more questions to be answered in another long offseason. For the second year in a row, Mike Babcock’s deployment methods were under fire after he played Matthews under 20 minutes in Game 7. When he did so last year, the Leafs’ head coach travelled down to meet with the Matthews due to unrest from the star centre.

In addition, several veteran faces look to be on the way out, restricted free agents need to be signed, and deals might need to be made to help free up cap space.

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the screws had been the cause of pain in Matthews’ back. His camp decided to go down this road in order to alleviate the pain he was feeling.

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He’ll be ready to go once the 2019-20 campaign gets underway and, hopefully, his strong playoff outing will give him even more confidence out of the gates.

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