Leafs GM Brad Treliving: Matthews ‘worked through’ injury suffered in camp

Some light has been shed on one of the Toronto Maple Leafs top stars.

During his end-of-season media availability on Thursday, general manager Brad Treliving was asked about Matthews’ injury, which he suffered during training camp last fall. Treliving confirmed that the team’s captain played hurt throughout the 2024-25 season, but they kept a close eye on him.

“We’re never gonna put a player in a position where it’s gonna make it worse,” Treliving said. “He worked through it. … When we said it was day to day, really believe that. Now, is that two days? We’ll see how it feels on the third day. In a couple of cases, it progressed. He was able to play through it.”

Matthews ended up missing a total of 15 games due to various ailments this season, scoring 33 goals and 45 assists for 78 points. It was just the third time in his nine-year NHL career that he failed to hit the 40-goal mark. The Arizona native’s performance came after a career year where he set a new franchise record for goals in a single season (69), while posting 107 points.

Treliving admitted there were times when Matthews bounced back after missing some games and looked comfortable, while there were other instances where the injury seemed to nag him more than help.

“When he came back and started playing from times off, it was better. There’d be times it would flare up. He was able to play with it. … It wasn’t something that we felt by playing, he was going to put himself in a really bad position short or long term. But with anything that you’re dealing with, it takes away some stuff.”

Days after the Maple Leafs were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Matthews admitted the injury hindered some parts of his game, but is expected to make a full recovery by the time the 2025-26 campaign gets underway.

“I think it impacted a lot of different things, for sure,” Matthews said during locker-clean-out day. “I’ll be back 100 percent. There’s nothing really to worry about.”

Treliving gave glowing remarks on Thursday about how Matthews stepped up this year, both on the ice and off the ice.

“I give Auston all the credit in the world,” Treliving said. “I thought he had a really good year in terms of his first year being a captain. … We managed [the injury] through the year, but did it have an effect? Certain times, it certainly did. But I think he, even seeing how his game evolved, he found a way to be a really, really important top player.”

Matthews ended up missing a total of 15 games due to various ailments this season, scoring 33 goals and 45 assists for 78 points. It was just the third time in his nine-year NHL career that he failed to hit the 40-goal mark. The Arizona native’s performance came after a career year where he set a new franchise record for goals in a single season (69) while posting 107 points.

The 27-year-old notched three goals and 11 points in 13 playoffs games, but scored just one goal in the Atlantic Division Final against the Panthers.