The Maple Leafs have sent their captain a clear message, but will he listen?

Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews will miss his second consecutive game tonight when the Detroit Red Wings come to town, and has been placed on the team’s injured reserve.

Earlier on Friday, head coach Craig Berube had said that things were going in “right direction” for Matthews, but the move was then made in order to allow some room for roster management. In a consequent move, Toronto has recalled forward Connor Dewar from his long term injured reserve conditioning loan. He was activated from LTIR.

Nick Kypreos is hoping Matthews gets the message that is being sent by the Maple Leafs in giving their captain more time to heal as he explained on the Real Kyper and Bourne podcast. He thinks the Leafs are signaling to Matthews to relax while sending him an important message:

“I do believe the Toronto Maple Leafs are overcompensating on him not playing.

So, if in fact he is on some heater again and pushes 50 goals or 60 goals, that will never happen again.

That ridiculous end of last season when the push was to drive these guys to the end, the distraction of 70 goals, 60, even 50 this season won’t come into play.

What they’re saying is ‘Auston, we don’t care about the number of goals you score anymore.

What we care about is you are at the height of your game, the team is feeling good, it’s about the playoffs and not the number you have to hit.’”

Kypreos was adamant on how Toronto needs to take its time with Matthews and not rush him back.

“Something’s bothering him, take two days off, take the weekend off. I think there’s a chance he takes the weekend off. There’s no number now you need to feel pressure to hit, that’s the message.

That’s the #1 thing that made me say what I just said is that we need to be abundantly clear you’re not coming back to feel like you need to produce a goal a game.”

The captain, who has dealt with shoulder and wrist ailments in the past, has collected five goals and 11 points in 13 games this season. He last played on Sunday when he picked up an assist and played more than 22 minutes in a 2-1 overtime road loss to the Minnesota Wild. Berube did however mentioned earlier this week that his best player isn’t currently dealing with a wrist issue, but it remains important to take the time in his recovery.

Kypreos is basically saying that Matthews’ goals and leadership are important, but winning games is even more important and that, following a 4-0 win over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, Matthews can take the time he needs to get better.