Maple Leafs place Auston Matthews on Injured Reserve with upper-body injury

Credit: Feb 22, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) warms up before a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Tuesday they placed forward Auston Matthews on Injured Reserve (IR), retroactive to Dec. 20.

Maple Leafs F Auston Matthews has been placed on IR (upper body) retroactive to December 20.

D Marshall Rifai has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies (AHL).

— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) December 31, 2024

In a corresponding move, the team recalled defenseman Marshall Rifai from their AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies.

Matthews will miss his fifth straight game Tuesday when Toronto hosts the New York Islanders on Tuesday. The Leafs captain participated fully in the team’s practice on Monday, taking part in battle drills and rotating in line rushes as an extra forward. He did not participate in power-play drills.

Despite being placed on IR, the Leafs can activate Matthews at any time, as the move was purely for roster space. He could play in the second half of the Leafs and Islanders’ home-and-home, which takes place Jan. 2.

“It was good to see Auston out there skating with us, so that was a good sign,” Maple Leafs’ Head Coach Craig Berube told reporters Monday. “I think everybody was excited about him being out there too. Tomorrow he will not play, but he did a good job in practice today, I thought. I think he feels pretty good, so we will just go from there. That’s all I’ve got for you on that.”

Matthews hasn’t played since Dec. 20 when he scored a goal and played 19:18 in a 6-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres. He also missed nine games in November due to an upper-body injury, which led to the 27-year-old spending a few days in Germany to visit a specialist for his injury.

Through 24 games this season, Matthews has 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points, and despite missing 13 games is still fourth on the team in points.

The 2016 No. 1 overall pick scored a career-high 69 goals in 2023-24, winning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the most in a single season. Matthews has scored at least 40 goals in each of the last five seasons.