Why The Maple Leafs Placed Auston Matthews On Injured Reserve And Called Up Marshall Rifai From Marlies

The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed Auston Matthews on injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 20, where he aggravated an upper-body injury which forced him to miss most of November.

The team says that the 27-year-old hasn't had any setbacks and that this move is more about getting a roster spot with a couple players sick. Toronto called up Marshall Rifai with Matthews going on the IR.

Matthews skated in over half of Toronto's practice on Monday and rotated through the first line with Max Pacioretty, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner. As of right now, it's unknown if the Maple Leafs' captain will be available for their Jan. 2 game against the Islanders.

Related: 'Everybody Is Excited About Him Being Out There': Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews Practicing, But Won't Play Against Islanders

"He skated yesterday and had a good skate," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said on Tuesday ahead of their game against the New York Islanders.

"I was glad he was out there. It was good to see him out there with us in practice, and really, we go from there and see how he is progressing tomorrow and see if he's out there in practice again tomorrow with us."

The Maple Leafs also announced that Pontus Holmberg and Oliver Ekman-Larsson will miss Tuesday's game because they're sick. Toronto will keep David Kampf in the middle of the second line and move Connor Dewar to the center spot.

This is the first game Ekman-Larsson has missed this season. Philippe Myers likely draws in on defence while Ryan Reaves, who hasn't played since Dec. 21 against the Islanders, is the likely player to come in at forward for Holmberg.

With two players out sick, Berube says he's not worried about it travelling through the team. He said on Tuesday morning that, if players get sick, they get sick.

"I'm not going to worry about that. If it happens, it happens. I mean, there's nothing I can do about it. I'm just focused on the game and who's playing the game today for us and how we need to get two points."

Toronto is set to take on the Islanders in a matinee game inside Scotiabank Arena with puck drop set for shortly after 1 p.m. ET.

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