The devastating knee injury that ended Auston Matthews' season has sparked all kinds of controversy around the NHL. Multi-time offense Radko Gudas received a controversial five-game suspension, and also the NHL's Department of Player Safety. Matthews' agent and now Connor McDavid has also weighed in on his latest controversial decision.
But for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Matthews himself, the bigger questions now concern the player's health and his future in Toronto.
Insider Elliotte Friedman gives us the latest on Matthews and his knee:
The Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews are still hopeful he won't need surgery. He probably won't find out for a week or two, but he hopes he won't need to. The main thing here is that, even if he does need surgery, there is no concern at this time that he will be moved into next season (to recover).
How will this poor season affect Auston Matthews' future with the Leafs?
But while the Maple Leafs are going through a reset/retool/rebuild or whatever R-word you want to call this summer, Friedman suggests this time away from the rink will give Matthews time to think about all of this, and where he fits into it.
It also lets Matthews know how he feels about things. A lot has happened in a short time in Toronto since he was last asked how he felt about things in early February. Since he won't be playing anymore, he'll have time to think about it, and they'll have time to talk to him about it. And I think over the next few months we'll get a better idea of how everyone feels about Matthews and the overall future of the Maple Leafs.
And while the captain has yet to respond to the other big talking point around all of this — how no teammate on the ice came to his defense after the violent assault at the hands of Gudas — Friedman says this will at least impact the team in other ways.
"There's no question in my mind that, internally, it will have an impact on the future and the building of the team... There were words like 'embarrassed' and 'apoplectic' about how everyone felt about that situation."
Matthews finished the 2025–26 season with the worst statistics of his 10-year NHL career. Only 27 goals (two years ago he had 69) and 53 points in 60 games.
