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NHL analyst makes his opinion on $65,408,000 Maple Leafs winger crystal clear amid Auston Matthews absence
The Toronto Maple Leafs have improbably weathered the loss of Auston Matthews. Still, without a clear timetable, the captain has missed six games thus far. In those six games, the Leafs are 5-1.
According to Elliotte Friedman, a big reason for this is Mitch Marner. The $65.4 million man has been playing very well during this period for Toronto, and it's helping the team win without Matthews.
On Monday, the NHL analyst appeared on "32 Thoughts: The Podcast" and spoke about Marner.
"I think he's handled things really well, and this is all coming as they've now won one five of six with Austin Matthews out with injury," he said. "I thought it was just quite impressive how he's handled, certainly the assignment on Saturday night, playing against 97. (20:30)
Just what a play there in overtime, breaking up the two on one, and then the winner shortly thereafter that was, that was, ended up being what could have been, you know, a three-game losing streak for Toronto."
He said the Leafs found a way to "scrape out a win against Washington and turn the tables on Edmonton Saturday." Those two overtime wins, both by a score of 4–3, have the Leafs at 11-6-2 and just one point back of the Florida Panthers.
Craig Berube opens up on Auston Matthews injury
Auston Matthews has been dealing with an upper-body injury since the preseason. It eventually came back to haunt him in early November, and he's been out since. He has no timetable or official diagnosis, but the team wants him to put this behind him before he returns.
Coach Craig Berube said via the Athletic:
“We want to get him 100 percent. We want to get him behind this, so he can move forward and we can move forward.”
Matthews has skated only twice since the Leafs revealed he was dealing with an upper-body injury. He has not played or even practiced with the team since a Nov. 3 overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild.
“Would I like him back? Yeah, for sure. But it is what it is. We just gotta keep moving on without him right now.”
Without its captain, the team registered wins against the Edmonton Oilers and Washington Capitals, with the loss coming against the Ottawa Senators.
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