Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has been ruled out of Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders, and spoke to reporters following Wednesday’s practice.

Matthews has missed each of the Maple Leafs' last five games with an upper-body injury and will sit out of tonight's affair after being added to the injured reserve on Tuesday. Toronto has found some success without its captain, but that doesn't change that Craig Berube's team is significantly better when the 27-year-old is healthy.

Although he will not suit up against the Islanders, it was notable to see Auston Matthews join several skaters for the club's optional skate. There is no timetable on when the Maple Leafs captain will return but the star center was worked hard on the ice and stayed along with scratches Pontus Holmberg, Conor Timmins and Marshall Rifai.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will miss out on Auston Matthews to cap off 2024, but he may be ready for the new year.

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube provided an optimistic update on Auston Matthews’ recovery from an upper-body injury, though he confirmed the star center will not play in the New York's Eve game against the New York Islanders.

When the New York Islanders defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 6-3 on Dec. 21, superstar forward Auston Matthews was missing from the lineup. Despite Matthews returning to the practice sheet for the first time since re-aggravating an injury on Dec. 20, the Maple Leafs' captain will miss his fifth straight game:

The Toronto Maple Leafs placed captain Auston Matthews on Injured Reserve ahead of their final game of the calendar year. The organization's PR team put out a s

The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to get their captain and premier scorer back in the lineup on Saturday night against the Boston Bruins. Leafs center Auston Matthews confirmed himself during a pregame media scrum that he will be returning to the lineup on Saturday.

NHL analyst Martin Biron has raised concerns about the uncertainty surrounding Auston Matthews' lingering upper-body injury. Matthews spoke to Jonas Siegel of The Athletic on Wednesday, offering an honest assessment of his situation and leaving the door open for playing through injury in the future.

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews joined his team for an informal New Year's Day practice today, but his timeline for returning to the lineup is unclear. In fact, it's unclear if Matthews will even be able to re-join the lineup at 100% the rest of this season.

The Maple Leafs captain resumed his spot on the top line, centring Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies, smiling as he led a morning stretch ahead of Hockey Night in Canada. Auston Matthews is clearly excited to make his return vs.