Maple Leafs Captain Auston Matthews to Miss Rest of Season Following MCL Injury

Auston Matthews, captain and center of the Toronto Maple Leafs, will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 NHL season after suffering an MCL injury from a knee-on-knee hit delivered by Anaheim Ducks defenseman and captain Radko Gudas. The NHL Department of Player Safety suspended Gudas for five games following a phone hearing. The hit ended the season of one of the league's most prominent players with weeks still remaining in the regular schedule.

Matthews' agent reacted with sharp criticism of the league's disciplinary response, calling the five-game suspension wholly inadequate.

„A phone hearing and five games is just laughable and preposterous. While the hearing process is pre-fixed in our CBA, that there was no further” — Matthews' agent via The New York Times

The agent added that the player safety department itself should be suspended, according to The New York Times. Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube also expressed anger over the incident, describing the hit as a dirty play, according to N-tv. Berube's reaction reflected the broader frustration within the Toronto organization over both the injury and the length of the suspension handed down to Gudas.

Radko Gudas has previously played in the NHL for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, and Florida Panthers before joining the Anaheim Ducks, where he serves as captain. Auston Matthews, born September 17, 1997, has been the Maple Leafs' captain and is widely regarded as one of the best players in the league. The NHL's supplemental discipline process for on-ice incidents typically involves either a phone hearing or an in-person hearing, with the latter reserved for suspensions expected to exceed five games — meaning Gudas's phone hearing indicated the league anticipated a penalty at or below that threshold before the ruling was issued.

The New York Times reported that the five-game suspension was unlikely to satisfy those calling for stronger protections for star players in the league. The MCL injury Matthews sustained is a significant one, and his absence removes a central figure from Toronto's playoff push. The incident unfolded during a game between the Maple Leafs and the Ducks, with a phone hearing for Gudas taking place on March 13, 2026, one day before the suspension was formally announced. The New York Times noted that the league's handling of the case raised broader questions about whether existing CBA disciplinary mechanisms are sufficient to deter dangerous plays targeting high-profile players.