The Maple Leafs will be without top center Auston Matthews tonight against the Islanders, reports Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link). Matthews is believed to have re-aggravated the upper-body injury that kept him out for several games last month, one that continues to linger. Despite playing at less than full health, Matthews has been quite productive when he has been in the lineup, notching 11 goals and 12 assists through 24 outings while averaging over 20 minutes a night for the sixth straight season. Johnston adds that Matthews is listed as questionable for Monday’s contest against Winnipeg but with the break coming up after that, it might make more sense for them to shut Matthews down for that game and give him more time to heal.
More from the Atlantic:
- Panthers center Sam Bennett won’t face any supplemental discipline for his hit last night against St. Louis winger Jake Neighbours, notes FanDuel Sports Network’s Andy Strickland (Twitter link). Bennett made his return to the lineup on Friday after missing a game with the flu. He’s off to a solid start in his contract year, tallying 13 goals and 14 assists in 32 games, putting himself in good shape for a sizable raise from his current $4.425MM AAV.
- While some have suggested that the Sabres were close to landing Carolina’s Martin Necas over the summer before the potential swap fell through, Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News suggests that wasn’t the case and things never got to the point where Necas had to consider the swap. Instead, a source tells Harrington that Calgary’s Yegor Sharangovich may have been someone that Buffalo was trying to land over the summer. The 26-year-old had a breakout year last season with 31 goals and 59 points, earning a five-year, $28.75MM extension for his efforts although things haven’t gone well for him this year with just six goals and two helpers thus far. GM Kevyn Adams indicated recently that he thought he had a significant trade done in the offseason that fell through and he declined to provide any specifics beyond that.
The Sabres were set to acquire Nik Ehlers & Alex Iafallo from the Jets for Krebs & Buffalo’s 1st round pick just prior to the draft (after the Sabres moved down a few slots after swapping picks with the Sharks). Ehlers wouldn’t agree to an extension prior to the trade, so Adams backed out. I was told this by someone inside of the organization, so I have full confidence in its validity.
Might end up better for Buffalo in a few years (Helenius).
Buffalo needs are for a center, RW and toughness.
Sabres shouldn’t trade their future….wouldn’t get back equal talent back for Cozens and Byram. Move Cozens to RW, and trade for a playmaking center. Krebs, Quinn Jokiharju, and Malenstyn to Van for E. Petterson, 3rd draft pick.
Buffalo should pick up Parssinen from Nashville for a draft pick.
T.Fredric from Boston for Greenway.
Samuelsson, Lafferty, 1st rd pick to NYI for Holmstrom and Romanov.
2nd rd pick and Aube-Kubel to Calgary for Sharangovich.
Sharangovich-Thompson-Tuch
Peterka/Benson-Petterson-Cozens
Parssinen-Kulich-Holmstrom
Fredric-McLeod-Zucker
Dahlin-Byram
Power-Romanov
Bryson/Gilbert-Clifton
U-P Luukkonen
Reimer
Levi
This looks like a leafs fan list. No one wants your garbage for top line players. That Sharangovich trade in particular makes 0 sense for the flames