Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews to Miss Remainder of 2025-26 Season Following Torn MCL

Auston Matthews suffered a Grade 3 torn MCL injury after suffering a hit from Radko Gudas and will miss the rest of the season.

Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews to Miss Remainder of 2025-26 Season Following Torn MCL

Auston Matthews (Image via Imago)

Auston Matthews‘ 2025-26 season has come to an abrupt end. On Friday, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that their captain had suffered a torn medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury in his left knee and will miss the rest of the season.

This development comes after Matthews took a huge hit from Radko Gudas in the game between the Maple Leafs and the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. The Canadian side, who were on an 8-game losing run, were hoping for a positive result. Matthews, meanwhile, was on a season-long 12-game goal drought.

After scoring first, the Maple Leafs would concede three times as the Ducks raced to a 3-1 lead in the second period. Near the halfway stage of this period, Matthews snapped his barren goal drought with a power-play goal to cut the deficit to 3-2.

This goal turned out to be the last contribution he would have this season. Shortly after his goal, he would get into a collision with Gudas near the Ducks goal.

Gudas, the Ducks captain, would deliver a knee-to-knee hit and leave a huge mark on the opposition captain. Check out that incident below:

Matthews was slow to get up from the ice and would clutch his left knee. Gudas, on the other hand, was handed a 5-minute major penalty and ejected from the game.

The Maple Leafs would go on to score 4 more times after this incident and emerge as 6-4 winners. This win turned out to be their first victory since the Winter Olympic break in early February.

On Friday, the Atlantic Division side shared some unpleasant news regarding their leader. In a statement, the team claimed that Matthews had suffered a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks time again.

Matthews will thus finish the 2025-26 season with 53 points (27 goals and 26 assists) in 60 games. Last month, the American international captained his country to Olympic glory as the USA defeated Canada in overtime to claim their first gold medal in men’s ice hockey since 1980.

Radko Gudas handed 5-game suspension for his hit on Auston Matthews

Auston Matthews will not skate again this season after suffering a knee injury. Radko Gudas, who landed the hit on him, was later slapped with a 5-game suspension.

Auston Matthews and Radko Gudas
Auston Matthews and Radko Gudas (Image via X/@Sportsnet/X/@spittinchichlets)

Earlier on Friday, reports emerged that Gudas would have a telephone hearing. This meant that the maximum suspension he could get was 5 games.

This would turn out to be true. The NHL Department of Player Safety would hand him a 5-game ban for his hit on Matthews.

This marks the 5th time the defenseman has been suspended in his NHL career. His first suspension, a 3-game ban, came in 2015 for a headshot on Mika Zibanejad. A year later, he was given a 6-game suspension for a headshot on Austin Czarnik in a preseason exhibition game.

In 2017, he was hit with a 10-game suspension without pay for slashing Mathieu Perreault. The Czechia star would slash the neck of the ex-Winnipeg Jets star while he was down on the ground in a prone position.

Two years later, Gudas was handed his 4th suspension. This time, he would get a 2-game ban for high-sticking Nikita Kucherov. With his 5-game suspension for his hit on Matthews, Gudas will have missed 26 games in his NHL career and forfeit $855,000 in salary.

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