NHL Notebook: Injuries abound as Toronto Maple Leafs lose Auston Matthews, Columbus Blue Jackets lose Gustav Nyquist and Seattle Kraken lose Matty Beniers

Tons of injuries around the NHL this week and all of them to significant players, too.

The most significant news is that the Toronto Maple Leafs have lost superstar forward Auston Matthews for “at least” three weeks to a knee sprain.

Matthews was injured in the Leafs 3-2 OT win against the New York Rangers.

“I noticed him in a little discomfort a couple times through the game but I didn’t think much of it at the time,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said, according to NHL.com. “He was still sore the next day, so they brought him for an MRI and there was an injury there, so he’ll take some time.”

Named to the All-Star game, Matthews won’t make the trip to Florida and will instead be replaced by Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov.

Other injury news that could affect the ASG as Seattle Kraken forward Matty Beniers is set to miss weekend games against the Calgary Flames and Columbus Blue Jackets.

There’s no news yet on if Beniers, who is set to be Seattle’s lone representative at the annual All-Star game, will miss the game or not. He was injured Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks when he was hit by towering defenceman Tyler Myers.

Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol called it a “garbage” hit.

“I didn’t like it at all,” Hakstol told radio outlet 93.3 KJR. “Obviously. Didn’t like it at all. Love what [Jamie Oleksiak] did. He did what he needed to do right away.

“Like I said after the game, there’s going to be different stuff that’s going to happen during a hockey game once the score gets stretched out. That’s something our group is going to be comfortable with. Hey, that’s all part of it.

“I thought the hit on Matty was garbage. I didn’t like it at all.”

Lastly, the Columbus Blue Jackets have lost forward Gustav Nyquist, who is one of their top trade chips heading into this deadline. He was injuried against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday and is “out indefinitely.”

He is ranked 23rd on Daily Faceoff’s Frank Servalli’s trade targets list.

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