Treliving reveals Matthews presented ‘head injury issues’ among injury updates

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving revealed that Auston Matthews presented symptoms of a head injury that kept him out of two pivotal elimination games against the Boston Bruins.

Treliving spoke Friday alongside Brendan Shanahan and MLSE CEO Keith Pelley and revealed the depth of injuries incurred by the Maple Leafs during the playoffs.

He went quite in-depth about five players who suffered ailments either before or during the playoffs, beginning with Bobby McMann.

“Bobby McMann suffered a MCL sprain of his knee. Initial diagnosis was 6-7 weeks. We anticipated he’d be available in the second round.”

He suffered an injury during the final home game of the regular season against the Red Wings and did not resume skating until the morning of Game 7. That appears to fall in line with the recovery timeline the Leafs laid out for McMann and it seemed that he would have made his playoff debut sometime this week had they won Game 7 against the Bruins.

“Auston Matthews became real sick at the end of Game 2. Our initial thought was that he was sick as he was. It was a virus that stuck with him. He suffered a hit in Game 4 that we couldn’t rule out and we weren’t sure if it was a combination of the sickness and the hit.”

Matthews had quite the tumultuous playoff in terms of his availability. He was not operating at 100% before being forced to exit Game 4 early with an alleged injury. This ultimately kept him out of the lineup for Game 5 and 6 before returning for the decisive game last week. Treliving’s update confirms that the reason for his absence was a combination of a bout of the flu and a head injury, so here’s hoping Matthews gets all the rest he needs before next season.

Treliving also confirmed that William Nylander was suffering through severe migraines. Nylander confirmed he was battling through migraines during his end-of-year availability Monday.

Connor Dewar suffered a shoulder injury and will undergo surgery. Treliving noted that the surgery would be taking place today and that he would be cleared in time for training camp. This likely indicates that the Leafs are going to get him signed to an extension at some point given he is a pending RFA this summer.

Joseph Woll suffered a SI sprain — a back sprain, at the end of Game 6. Woll nearly singlehandedly carried the Leafs out of the 3-1 series deficit with two impressive showings that helped force a Game 7. Given he is not far removed from a high-ankle sprain that kept him out of commission for months, this is a tough setback for him. Here is hoping he can get his ankle area cleared up before next season.