Amid a rash of injuries, the Toronto Maple Leafs received some positive news as Auston Matthews took the ice before the club’s full morning skate ahead of its game against the St. Louis Blues at Scotiabank Arena.
Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving confirmed that the star center is progressing.
“He’s coming along. We’ve listed him as day to day, obviously not going to play tonight. I would suspect Thursday is probably not a possibility,” Treliving said of Matthews. “Probably after Thursday, at least we get a little bit better sense of how things are responding. I don’t anticipate it will be too long.”
Matthews sustained the lower-body injury in the Leafs’ 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Nov. 11. The Leafs placed Matthews on injured reserve dating back to that game, meaning he could have returned this Thursday, but the team has now ruled out that possibility.
Matthews left the game shortly after taking a hit from Nikita Zadorov; however, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube denied that was the play in which the Toronto star was injured.
Matthews took the ice for the first time since the injury on Tuesday morning along with fellow injured players Chris Tanev (upper-body) and Marshall Rifai (wrist), before the rest of the club took part in a full morning skate.
Treliving acknowledged that the team’s track record of recovery timelines hasn’t been great. This is especially true of Matthews, who missed 15 games last season with a lingering upper-body injury that clearly hampered his ability to perform at his best. Matthews has nine goals and five assists in 17 games with the Leafs this season.
In Matthews’ absence, John Tavares has been elevated to the top-line center role. Tavares has recorded 11 goals and 13 assists in 19 games.
In other injury news, Nic Roy, who had moved to the second-line center spot, will miss the next “couple of games,” according to head coach Craig Berube.
With key players sidelined, Toronto is currently struggling at 8-9-2 and sits second-last in the Atlantic Division standings.
Ahead of the Tuesday deadline to add players to their 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft, the Boston Red Sox made a number of moves, including designating first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and right-hander Josh Winckowski for assignment.
Players who were not on 40-man rosters by the deadline are eligible to be selected by another team in the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 10.
The Red Sox traded two left-handed relievers, Brennan Bernardino and Chris Murphy, sending Bernardino to the Colorado Rockies for minor league outfielder Braiden Ward, and moving Murphy to the Chicago White Sox for Ronny Hernandez, a minor league catcher.
Boston also sent right-handed reliever Luis Guerrero to the Tampa Bay Rays for utility infielder Tristan Gray and shipped right-hander Alex Hope to the Seattle Mariners for catcher Luke Heyman in an exchange of minor leaguers.
The Red Sox added three players from Triple-A Worcester to the big-league roster: right-handers David Sandlin and Tyler Uberstine and left-hander Shane Drohan.
Signed in mid-August after being released by the Washington Nationals, Lowe provided a lift in Boston, hitting .280 with two homers, six doubles, 16 RBIs and a .790 OPS in 34 regular-season games. Overall, the 30-year-old hit .228 with 18 homers and 84 RBIs in 153 games with the Nationals and Red Sox.
Winckowski, 27, posted an 0-1 record and a 3.86 ERA in six games for Boston in 2025. In 11 2/3 innings, he had nine strikeouts and five walks. He was sent to the minors in late April and ultimately had his season end due to a right elbow flexor strain that ended his season.
The 33-year-old Bernardino finished 4-3 with a 3.14 ERA in 55 outings (three starts) this season, his third with Boston. In 51 2/3 innings, he struck out 43 and walked 26.
Murphy, 27, missed the 2024 season after Tommy John surgery and did not make his 2025 debut until June 28. He was 3-0 with a 3.12 ERA in 23 games, with 30 strikeouts and 20 walks in 34 2/3 innings.
The 25-year-old Guerrero appeared in 13 games for the Red Sox in 2025, going 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA, 10 strikeouts and 14 walks in 17 1/3 innings.
Drohan, 26, had an impressive 2025 campaign, going 5-2 with a 3.00 ERA, 77 strikeouts and 21 walks in 54 innings between Class-A Greenville (three starts) and Worcester (12 games, 11 starts).
Ranked as the Red Sox’s No. 10 prospect by MLB Pipeline, the 24-year-old Sandlin went 9-6 with a 4.50 ERA, 107 strikeouts and 40 walks in 106 innings between Double-A Portland (17 games, 13 starts) and Worcester (15 games, one start) last season.
Uberstine, 26, went 6-5 with a 3.58 ERA, 137 strikeouts and 41 walks over 120 2/3 innings between Portland (six starts) and Worcester (19 games, 15 starts) in 2025.
As for the players the Red Sox received in their trades, the 26-year-old Ward posted 57 stolen bases while hitting .290 with two homers, 37 RBIs and 74 runs between Double-A Hartford (53 games) and Triple-A Albuquerque (44 games).
Hernandez, 21, has yet to play above Class-A, posting a .262 batting average, 28 doubles, one triple, five homers and 80 RBIs in 176 games the past two seasons at Kannapolis.
The versatile 29-year-old Gray made his major league debut with the Rays in 2023. He played 30 games for Tampa Bay last season, hitting .231 with five doubles, three homers and nine RBIs while seeing playing time at every infield position.
Heyman, 22, has yet to play professionally after the Mariners selected the University of Florida product in the 14th round of the 2025 draft.