Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving believes Auston Matthews will be more than ready for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off after returning to the lineup in January.
Matthews has been dealing with an upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for 15 games, including a six-game stretch through December and January. Toronto’s captain has posted three goals and eight points in five games, since coming back on January 4 in a 6-4 win against the Boston Bruins.
“There’s nothing right at this point that would make me worry about (his participation),” Treliving said Monday. “We’re still a month away or so. With all players you look at where they are at that time. But hopefully there are no setbacks and everything keeps moving forward.”
Matthews was practicing alongside Mitch Marner and Steven Lorentz at Monday’s practice, as the Maple Leafs host the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
“He’s doing well,” Treliving said. “The question at the time was asked and nothing is 100 percent right? We’re all day to day aren’t we? We gave it a lot of time. He put a lot of work into getting through it and touch wood that we are on the other side of it. I think you can see by his play since he’s been back that he’s feeling good and we’re hopeful it’s behind him.”
Matthews is skating and shooting with his regular velocity, but posted a -6 rating in Thursday’s loss against the Carolina Hurricanes, and was held off the scoresheet in a 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
Treliving also appeared to hint at the idea that the Maple Leafs will pursue a third-line centre ahead of the trade deadline. Toronto has lacked secondary scoring throughout the season, and an immediate upgrade through the middle will surely be welcome, in pursuit of an elusive Stanley Cup.
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