Two Maple Leafs ruled out vs. Devils as Auston Matthews' status hangs in the balance

Ahead of Tuesday night's game against the New Jersey Devils, the Maple Leaf lineup is going to look much different; not because Craig Berube wants to try something new but because they are dealing again with several injuries.

According to the Maple Leafs PR account on X, the team will not have Chris Tanev or Dakota Joshua on Tuesday night, meanwhile Auston Matthews is a game-time decision:

In a couple of corresponding moves, the Maple Leafs recalled defenseman Matt Benning and forward Jacob Quillan from the Toronto Marlies (AHL).

Elliotte Friedman noted that several AHL players were told not to make the trip to Cleveland, and now we know that two Marlies won't be involved in that game.

Joshua and Tanev were injured on Sunday night against Detroit, meanwhile Matthews left the same game but later returned although clearly he's dealing with some lingering issues from a couple days ago.

It's frustrating for both fans and the team as it seemed they were just starting to get things figured out after a rough stretch and are now set back by injuries.

It's especially frustrating that Tanev is hurt again as this would make it the third time he's been out due to an ailment, and he just returned a few games ago from over a month away.

Tanev did play the entire game so it could be a minor injury, meanwhile Joshua left the game and the team still has no information on William Nylander; who is day-to-day and missed Sunday's game.

Matthews blocked a shot and was clearly in some pain, and left for the dressing room at the end of the second period however did come back, so we really don't know the extent of these injuries.

However if this is something that is going to follow them into 2026, then the Maple Leafs will need to make sure they have enough insurance and may need to make a couple of moves in order to do so.