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Auston Matthews Injury Raises Questions About Maple Leafs’ Future

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ankit Kumar | Last updated Mar 17, 2026 1:15 AM ET

The Toronto Maple Leafs have sunk to the bottom, especially after captain Auston Matthews suffered a season-ending injury. The star forward sustained a Grade 3 MCL tear and a quadriceps contusion during Thursday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks.

Matthews took a knee-on-knee hit from Radko Gudas in the matchup. The injury forced the Toronto captain out for the rest of the season. The team will reevaluate him in two weeks, but the current timeline ends his campaign.

The injury arrives at a critical time for the Maple Leafs. Toronto holds a 29-27-12 record and sits seventh in the Atlantic with 70 points. The team has not been mathematically eliminated from the playoff race, but losing Matthews creates a major obstacle.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman believes the incident could affect the organization beyond this season. Speaking on "Saturday Headlines", Friedman said the situation created strong internal reactions inside the franchise.

“There is no question in my mind that internally, it will have ramifications on the future and the construction of the team,” Friedman said. “I tried to speak to as many people as I could, and there were words like ‘embarrassed’ and ‘apoplectic’ thrown around about how everybody felt about what happened.”

The Auston Matthews incident will reportedly have major ramifications on the future of the Leafs

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The injury also raises questions about the Maple Leafs’ long-term direction. Matthews remains under contract for two more seasons after the current campaign. The captain signed a four-year deal worth $53 million with a $13.25 million annual cap hit.

Talking about the Maple Leafs' direction and Matthews' future, Toronto general manager Brad Treliving said,

"Auston is under contract," Treliving said. "As we do with all of our players, we’ll talk about things as we get into the offseason. Our focus right now is that we have 15 games or so — 14 games — ahead of us to finish out the year. We will dive into all of those issues later."

Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas (7) looks at injured Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) after delivering a knee on knee hit.John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

Matthews finished the season with 27 goals and 53 points in 60 games. Those numbers mark the lowest scoring totals of his ten NHL seasons. Despite that drop, the forward remained the centerpiece of Toronto’s offense.

Now, without Matthews, the team must find answers quickly as uncertainty grows around the roster’s future.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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