Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews is expected to miss the first three games of the regular season as he continues to recover from wrist surgery.
The 24-year-old center, who underwent surgery on Aug. 13, said his wrist is still not where he would like it to be to play.
“We are taking it day by day and many things may change, but as of now this week is probably out of the question. But you never know what could happen, ”Matthews said after Monday’s practice.
Matthews scored 41 goals in 52 games last season to lead the NHL, but missed four games with a wrist injury.
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Toronto hosts the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday to open the regular season, then has two games against the Senators: Thursday in Ottawa and at home on Saturday.
Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said he didn’t expect Matthews to be available for the first three games. Toronto’s fourth game is against the visiting New York Rangers on October 18.
“Auston is not at the point where he is comfortable playing right now,” Keefe said.
Ilya Mikheyev is expected to be out for eight weeks after sustaining a thumb injury on Saturday that will require surgery.
Matthews said his recovery progress has been “great” and that he is “dying” to get in and play.
“Physically I feel very good,” he said. “I feel like in the last month I was able to do a really good job with the skill coaches, working on different parts of my game. Personally, I don’t feel like I’m at a point where I’m one hundred percent comfortable playing, that’s all. I feel good physically and everything, I think I need a little more time ”.
Keefe said he hopes Matthews is healthy after not playing 100 percent last season due to a wrist injury.
This Canadian Press report was first published on October 11, 2021.
© 2021 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca