In the first season of a 4-year contract that made him the most expensive player in the NHL, 2024-25 hasn't gone as planned for the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

It was clear before Craig Berube revealed Matthews was still “fighting through” something that not all was right with the Leafs captain.

The Toronto Maple Leafs missed their captain for about a month earlier in the season due to an upper-body injury, and when he returned it was expected he would

It’s been an eventful season for the Toronto Maple Leafs so far. Despite a few recent stumbles, the team has primarily found success. Remarkably, much of it has been without their superstar captain, Auston Matthews.

TORONTO -- Auston Matthews missed his straight game because of an upper-body injury when the Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on Monday. "He's going to rest here over the break and hopefully he comes back in a lot better shape," Toronto coach Craig Berube said before the game. "He gets relief at times, but it's not good enough."

Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews is out for Monday's game against the Winnipeg Jets continuing an injury-filled season.

Despite their misleading 7-4-0 record without Auston Matthews in the lineup, the Maple Leafs have struggled immensely in his absences.

Toronto captain Auston Matthews sat out the Maple Leafs’ game Saturday night against the New York Islanders because of an undisclosed injury.

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who took a cross-check to the back late in a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night, sat out the his club's 6-3 loss on Saturday night to the New York Islanders because of an undisclosed injury.

Matthews was cross-checked in Friday's game against Buffalo, re-aggravating the injury which forced him to miss most of November.