Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season after sustaining a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion, the team announced on Friday.
The injury occurred with just over four minutes remaining in the second period of the Maple Leafs’ 6-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday when Gudas attempted to hit Matthews and made contact with his left knee.
Matthews remained on the ice for a long period of time before exiting the ice and going into the dressing room without putting any weight on his left leg.
Gudas was handed a five-minute major penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct for the play.
Matthews recorded a goal on 13:18 of ice time before departing the game with the injury and has 27 goals and 53 points in 60 games this season.
After the game, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube called the hit a “dirty play” while forward Matthew Knies pointed out that he’s been involved in hits that resulted in injuries before.
“There’s no premeditation,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said after the game. “Reflexes did it.”
The team says that Matthews will be re-evaluated in two weeks and will provide another update at that time.
Toronto sits last in the Atlantic Division with a 28-27-11 record entering Friday’s action with 16 games remaining in the regular season.