Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Auston Matthews’ Injury Gives Him Time to Weigh Future

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Spencer Lazary | Last updated Mar 16, 2026 9:15 AM ET

The Toronto Maple Leafs were handed some pretty unfortunate news this past week. Their captain Auston Matthews has been officially ruled out for the remainder of the 2025-26 season, with a grade 3 MCL sprain and a quad contusion. This was the final cherry on top of what has been a very terrible season for the Maple Leafs.

Unfortunately, things may have gotten worse with the report that surfaced last night. According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Matthews could take the time it takes to recover from the MCL injury and use it to determine his future with the club. This was a hard pill to swallow, especially considering the awful season that Leafs Nation has had to endure.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Matthews is walking away from the Maple Leafs. However, it isn’t ideal that their franchise star is taking time to consider his future with the organization.

Matthews Taking Time to Decide Future

Matthews will indeed take time during his recovery to decide what his future is. As Friedman reports, the Maple Leafs will take a serious look at their roster due to the lack of response.

Depending on what they do, it could make Matthews want to stay. Here’s what Friedman reported during his Saturday Headlines segment on Hockey Night in Canada.

“What this also allows Matthews to do is kinda stay the clock on how he feels about things. Like a lot has happened in a very short time in Toronto from the time they last kinda touched base with him about how he felt about things in the beginning of February. Since he’s not going to play now, he has some time to think about it, they’ll have time to talk to him about it. And I think sometime over the next couple of months, Ron, we’re going to get a better idea about how everyone feels about the overall future of Matthews and the Maple Leafs.”

Ron MacLean then asked Friedman if he felt that the lack of response from his teammates was a big deal. Friedman had this to say:

“Well, I think it is but he hasn’t said anything yet. So I don’t want to assume. He hasn’t said anything at this point in time. But I think it would be and there’s no question in my mind that internally, it will have ramifications on the future and construction of the team.”

If this is the case, there could be a world where the Maple Leafs and the fan base prepare for a separation between them and their captain. That said, there was also a report from earlier this season that mentioned if the retool was fast and well done, similar to the Boston Bruins, he’d have no issue staying. However, if it was prolonged and the team endured a lot of losing, then he’d want to explore the potential of being traded. Unfortunately, all we know at this time is that during his recovery, he will take time to decide what he wants to do.