Auston Matthews Misses Practice as Maple Leafs Immediately Explain His Absence

Coming off a very hard-fought 2-1 OT win on Thursday evening, it was back to business for the Toronto Maple Leafs as they look towards their next game against the Seattle Kraken; a game that holds a lot more emotion given the MLB Playoffs.

Practice saw the return of Steven Lorentz, which is a massive boost to the team's bottom-six and hopefully will lead to the team getting more of that grit and toughness they desire.

He had missed the last three games with an unspecified upper-body injury.

But it also came with the absence of Auston Matthews, who was replaced by Calle Jarnkrok in practice however the team was quick to note there is nothing to worry about: It's just maintenance.

That's huge for fans who might get initially worried about whether or not their captain is healthy this season or not.

But he's been fantastic thus far, with five points in his first five games (4 goals, 1 assist) with two game-winners.

Last season we saw several maintenance days turn into long injury stints, so fans might be holding their breath however it's been a stark change in the team's mentality when it comes to being transparent.

They keep their cards close sure, but the team has been outright blunt with why players are missing, and giving more realistic timelines.

It was a day-to-day nightmare last year when a one or two game injury turned out to be longer and we never felt like the team was being completely honest at times.

Matthews, if he was hurt in any capacity, hasn't shown it. His shot is looking much snappier, he's playing elite defense, and it's starting to feel like we are getting the old version of him back.

All the talk this offseason about whether or not he would fail without Mitch Marner needs to be put to bed, and the team has been getting a lot of help from their depth meanwhile players like William Nylander and Matthew Knies continue to be elite.

Toronto will get most of their lineup back against the Kraken on Saturday, with Lorentz likely to return and Matthews back and ready to do more damage.

It's a great sign for what's to come ahead, as this is the perfect time to build momentum considering how wide open the Atlantic Division seems to now be.