Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee and will be sidelined for the rest of the season, the team said Friday.
The Maple Leafs said Matthews has a Grade 3 tear in the knee and also sustained a bruised quadriceps during the second period of Thursday's game against the Anaheim Ducks.
Matthews was hurt when he took a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim defender Radko Gudas. He remained on the ice in pain as team trainers came to help.
Gudas received a five-minute
major penalty and a game misconduct. On Friday, the NHL Department of Player Safety suspended him for five games, marking the fifth suspension of his career.
Matthews' agent, Judd Moldaver, was upset that Gudas didn't face an in-person hearing, where a suspension of more than five games would have been possible.
"A phone hearing and five games is just laughable and preposterous," Moldaver said, according to The Athletic. "While the hearing process is pre-fixed in our CBA, that there was no further discipline is a reckless and ridiculous position for Player Safety.
"This decision results in a further loss of confidence in the disciplinary process for all players. Players and fans deserve better. The Player Safety department should be suspended."
Matthews, the captain of the gold medal-winning United States Olympic team, will be re-evaluated in two weeks. The Maple Leafs said they will have a further update at that time on the 2021-22 Hart Memorial Trophy winner as league MVP.
Matthews, 28, scored a goal in the 6-4 win over the Ducks and finishes the season with 53 points (27 goals, 26 assists) in 60 games.
Matthews has scored 428 goals and 780 points in 689 regular-season games in 10 seasons with Toronto, winning the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie in 2016-17. He has been named to the NHL All-Star Game seven times, playing in five of the contests and winning All-Star Game MVP honors in 2024. He pulled out in 2020 due to a wrist injury and 2023 because of a knee injury.
--Field Level Media
