Auston Matthews says he is feeling healthy ahead of 2025-26 season

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews says he is feeling a lot healthier entering the 2025-26 campaign.

Matthews spoke with NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika on Thursday, where he touched on the state of his health going into the new season.

“My health is good,” Matthews said. “I feel a lot better. I think I took really good steps this offseason as far as that goes, and so I’m really happy with that progress and happy with where I’m at.”

This will no doubt be music to the ears of Leafs Nation, given how turbulent a year it was for him the previous season regarding his health. Matthews missed time throughout the year due to an injury he suffered during the preseason, though he did not disclose what exactly was bothering him.

While he did not need to undergo surgery at any point, he did have to fly to Munich in November to get treatment on his ailments and get it to a place where he could manage it. The result was a down year by his standards 78 points (33 goals and 45 assists) in 67 games played.

“In Auston’s case, he injured himself in camp. We’re never going to put a player in a position where it’s going to make it worse. He worked through it. It’s not a case of us saying ‘Auston, get out there and make it worse.’ He got time. When we said it was day-to-day, we really believed that,” Brad Treliving said to reporters on May 29th. “He was able to play through it. When he came back and started playing after times off, it was better. There were times where it would flare up. He was able to play with it. It wasn’t something we felt like playing, he was going to put himself in a really bad position short or long-term.”

Now that the injury troubles are behind him, Matthews shifts his focus to preparing for the new season and getting ready to represent his country at the Winter Olympics in February. He is fresh off captaining the United States to the finals of the 4 Nations Face-Off, but ultimately lost to Canada in overtime.

Matthews is certainly excited for the opportunity to once again captain his country, and on an even bigger stage than last year, but he admitted that the loss to their neighbours to the north still stings.

“I mean, it’s tough. Obviously, losing in overtime, a bounce here or there, you never know what can happen. It’s a game of inches,” Matthews said. “I think there is definitely a lot of motivation for that and from losing that game. But I think we showed throughout that tournament we’re right there with those guys, and we feel like we’re the best hockey country in the world, and so it’s going to be exciting to have an opportunity to prove that again.”