Toronto Maple Leafs and Team USA captain Auston Matthews revealed that the injury that kept him out of Monday’s game against Team Sweden was new.

He assured reporters that he feels he has progressed nicely and is ready to play in Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off Finals against Team Canada. USA coach Mike Sullivan told reporters before Monday’s game that Matthews would be held out of the lineup due to upper body soreness but would be back in time for the finals.

He was skating on the top line with Jack Hughes and Jake Guentzel during USA’s practice on Wednesday, which should once again see the bulk of the minutes against Canada.

While reports have indicated that this latest ailment is not serious, there is no doubt going to be concerns from Leafs fans that their captain is once again going to be playing hurt which could impact his abilities. He has missed 15 games this season due to various injuries, which included taking a trip to Munich in November to receive treatment.

Matthews has not revealed the extent of the aforementioned ailment but it hasn’t impacted his overall play throughout the 2024-25 season. Despite playing at less than 100%, he is still well over a point-per-game player with 45 points (20 goals and 25 assists) in 40 games while also taking significant strides in his defensive game. Those shutdown abilities were on full display on Saturday when he did a masterful job of neutralizing Canada’s potent attack and was a factor in why the Red and White were limited to only one goal.

It made sense for Matthews to sit out of Monday’s game since the Americans had already clinched their spot and the game was meaningless. You can also commend him for taking care of his body and not wanting to risk a further ailment when the stakes were low. At the same time, it is concerning that he is dealing with something else unrelated to the one that has been bugging him all season long. The Leafs can’t afford to have their franchise player missing any time in the playoffs, so the hope is that this is something that won’t linger.

It is unclear at the time of filing if Matthews will be ready to get back in the Leafs lineup when they resume play on Saturday against the Carolina Hurricanes. Regardless, Leafs Nation will be holding their collective breaths throughout Thursday’s game in the hopes that their captain does not suffer any further setbacks.