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“Fans Deserve to Know” – Maple Leafs GM Drops Shocking Injury Updates on Three Key Players!
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been incredibly busy on the injury front. In the offseason, they’ve dealt with two long-term injuries from roster players. Acquired this past offseason, Jani Hakanpaa had a serious knee injury. That resulted in Treliving revising his deal with the Finnish defenceman. Furthermore, Connor Dewar was also dealing with a serious injury in the summer. He was required to get surgery done on his shoulder which forced him to miss parts of training camp. He also did not play the entire preseason. However, both are close to returning, specifically Dewar who was recently activated off IR.
Despite that bad luck before the season, the Leafs are without a few more players at the moment. General manager Brad Treliving provided updates on Monday morning regarding Auston Matthews, Max Pacioretty, and Calle Jarnkrok. Jarnkrok has been out for longer than the other two. The Swede has been absent for about a month and is still not expected to return for a little while. In Toronto’s last game on Saturday, Pacioretty picked up his injury. And Matthews has been out of the lineup for about a week.
Injury Updates
Auston Matthews
The Leafs captain did not seem like himself to start this season. In his 13 games played, he’s scored five goals and 11 points. While those are solid numbers for any NHL player, the three-time Rocket Richard winner knows he can do more. There were speculations about Matthews playing through an injury given his production, and sure enough, he was. In training camp, the 27-year-old was going through an issue. Per head coach Craig Berube, Matthews’ upper-body injury is related to that earlier issue.
Originally, Matthews was listed as day-to-day by the Maple Leafs. Eventually, they placed him on injury reserve, forcing him out for at least seven days. This move is retroactive to Nov. 3, the day the injury was discovered. This would mean technically he could feature in Tuesday’s clash against provincial rivals the Ottawa Senators. However, according to Treliving, it’s “doubtful” that Matthews will play on Tuesday. It appears both Treliving and Berube want to be cautious with the superstar and make sure this bug passes before getting him back in action.
Max Pacioretty
As mentioned, Pacioretty has the most recent injury of the bunch. He suffered a thigh injury in Toronto’s 4-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens, the team he formerly captained. In an awkward fall, he grabbed his hamstring area and immediately went to the bench. When the period ended he was helped to the dressing room and did not return to the game. Given Pacioretty’s history of injuries, there was some concern with the left-winger. However, Treliving says the news is better than expected for Pacioretty and the team.
The Leafs general manager said he is expected to miss several weeks and now sits on IR with Matthews.
Calle Jarnkrok
Jarnkrok has been out for over a month since sustaining a lower-body injury during the preseason. He hasn’t seen the ice in quite some time, and it appears that will continue. According to Treliving, the 33-year-old had a setback in his recovery over the weekend. From the time of the injury, it’s been unknown how long Jarnkrok will be out, but it feels like it’ll be much longer.
The veteran forward will be seeing a specialist in New York and after this trip, the team will be able to take the next steps in his recovery.
