BREAKING NEWS

Maple Leafs place F Matthew Knies (upper-body injury) on injured reserve

Maple Leafs Place Forward Matthew Knies on Injured Reserve with Upper-Body Ailment
Santiago Carline
By Santiago Carline
Reading time: 10 min
Maple Leafs place F Matthew Knies (upper-body injury) on injured reserve | Picks n' Previews

Toronto Maple Leafs winger Matthew Knies was put on the injured reserve list on Friday due to an upper-body injury, although coach Craig Berube noted that the former second-round pick is making progress.

The choice to place the 22-year-old Knies on IR, retroactive to Wednesday, means that the third-year player will not be playing in Sunday's home game against the Utah Hockey Club.

During Wednesday's 3-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights, Knies was hit under the chin by Zach Whitecloud's shoulder and fell hard to the ice. Knies immediately left the game and has not practiced since.

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Officials deemed the hit to be clean, but Whitecloud got into a fight with Knies' teammate, Simon Benoit, who received a double minor. Whitecloud was penalized for roughing for two minutes.

In 20 games this season, Knies has recorded 12 points (eight goals, four assists). Throughout his 103-game career since 2022-23, the Phoenix native has accumulated 48 points (23 goals, 25 assists) after being selected by Toronto in 2021.

As a corresponding move, Toronto called up forward Alex Nylander after signing the 26-year-old to a one-year, $775,000 contract on Friday.

Nylander has registered 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in 14 games this season for the AHL's Toronto Marlies.

The Calgary, Alberta native and brother of Toronto's William Nylander has tallied 49 points (25 goals, 24 assists) in 121 NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres (2016-19), Chicago Blackhawks (2019-20), Pittsburgh Penguins (2022-23), and Columbus Blue Jackets (2024). Nylander was selected as the No. 8 overall pick in the 2016 draft by Buffalo.

In other news for the Leafs, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson missed Friday's practice due to an illness. The 33-year-old, who averages 21:09 of ice time, had an assist in Wednesday's win and has recorded eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 20 games.

To fill in for Ekman-Larsson, the Leafs called up defenseman Philippe Myers from the Marlies on Friday. Myers played 12:11 in his one game with Toronto this season, a 4-3 overtime loss against the Boston Bruins on October 26th.

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Additionally, Berube mentioned that forward Max Domi may be able to return for Sunday's game despite being on the IR with a lower-body injury. Domi, 29, has recorded six assists in 19 games this season.

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