Ominous Auston Matthews injury update should have Maple Leafs fans pushing the panic button

For much of his NHL career, Auston Matthews has not only been among the best players in the league but has also been mostly durable. The 27-year-old appeared in at least 65 games in all but one of his first full eight NHL seasons (excluding the shortened 2020 season) and appeared in 81 of last season's 82 regular season contests.

This season, unfortunately, has been a different story for Matthews. He has been sidelined in each of the Toronto Maple Leafs' last five games due to an undisclosed injury that he suffered in training camp, and has missed 14 games this season due to injury. That total will jump to 15 as he was ruled out of Thursday's game against the New York Islanders.

Maple Leafs fans were thrilled to have seen their captain speak to the media for the first time since landing back on the sidelines on Wednesday. What he had to say about his injury, though, gives them reason to panic.

Auston Matthews injury update puts Maple Leafs in a tough spot

Matthews missing any time is frustrating, obviously, but missing time less than 40 games into the regular season is probably the ideal time for him to miss games if he had to be out at all. The Maple Leafs currently sitting tied for first place in the Atlantic Division makes Matthews' absence easier as well. They're eight points ahead of the Ottawa Senators, who occupy the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference as of this writing.

The alarming part of his presser, though, is that he admitted that he's unsure about whether he'll be able to move past his injury this season.

“I don’t know. I hope so,” Matthews said. “That’s obviously the goal. It’s tricky with these things sometimes. It’s a physical sport, it’s a contact sport, so things happen out there sometimes that are out of your control. So I’m just trying to manage it as best as I can, and we can, and you just go from there.”

Making the playoffs, even if Matthews has to miss more time, shouldn't be too difficult for a Maple Leafs team that has a good amount of talent even without him. What about the playoffs, though?

The Maple Leafs are a team that has had trouble getting over the hump when it really matters. They've made the playoffs in each of the last eight seasons, but have no Eastern Conference Finals appearances in that span. In fact, they've won just one round in those eight years.

It goes without saying that for the Maple Leafs to go anywhere, Matthews is going to have to play like one of, if not the best player in the NHL. Yes, Toronto needs guys like Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares to contribute in a big way as well, but Matthews is their best player.

The goal for this team is quite simple. They want to make a deep playoff run. Making it in is not good enough.

The playoffs don't begin for another while, but Matthews doesn't sound too confident about his ability to be close to fully healthy by the time they do roll around. If Matthews has to play compromised or has to miss games in the playoffs, the Leafs would be in big trouble.