Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews injury not believed to be wrist

The mystery surrounding the injury that kept Auston Matthews out of the lineup has prompted speculation as to what could be ailing the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise centre.

It has been made clear that Matthews' absence from the lineup had nothing to do with the wrist injury that forced him to miss the start of the season.

"The Maple Leafs are obviously very tight-lipped. You don't get a lot of information around this time of the playoffs. It's not believed to be related to the wrist that was injured earlier this year," Elliotte Friedman said during the 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday. "It doesn't seem that Toronto was that concerned about this either, something nagging that they just wanted to be careful with."

Matthews made his return on Saturday against the Florida Panthers after sitting out the last three games. The only indication head coach Sheldon Keefe provided was saying that it was something Matthews hadn't dealt with before.

Matthews also explained that an injury suffered during an awkward collision during last Saturday's win against the Ottawa Senators gave him discomfort.

“It’s never fun sitting out,” Matthews said Saturday morning. “But you gotta take the good with the bad, and hopefully that little bit of rest was beneficial.”

The absence paused Matthews' attempt at reaching 60 goals this season although he remains the frontrunner for the Rocket Richard Trophy with 58 goals through 71 games. He missed the first three games of the season while recovering from off-season wrist surgery.

It will be interesting to see how Matthews responds to his first game back in the lineup as the Leafs are playing on back-to-back nights as they travel to take on the Washington Capitals Sunday.