When the Toronto Maple Leafs placed Auston Matthews on injured reserve (IR) before their weekend games, it wasn’t due to a setback in his injury but rather a strategic roster move. This allowed the team to activate Connor Dewar from his AHL conditioning stint, as announced before Friday’s game against Detroit.

The decision enabled Dewar to join the Leafs lineup while Matthews remained sidelined. Toronto went on to secure back-to-back victories, including a 4–0 shutout of Boston and a 3–1 win over Detroit. TSN’s Chris Johnston clarified on X that Matthews’ IR placement was purely a tactical decision, with no setbacks in his recovery. In Matthews’ absence, John Tavares and Mitch Marner have stepped up, with Marner contributing a goal and an assist against Detroit, and Tavares adding two goals, including the game-winning power-play marker. Toronto’s power play, which had struggled earlier in the season, has recently improved, scoring 6 goals on its last 10 opportunities after converting only 3 out of 39 chances earlier. The Leafs’ recent success has helped them rise to an 8-5-2 record (18 points), still in pursuit of the Atlantic Division-leading Florida Panthers (21 points in 14 games).