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Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs was hit into the net during Saturday night's game on October 27th against the Winnipeg Jets. Due to this incident during the second period, Auston Matthews will miss at least the next four weeks. This is obviously not an ideal scenario for the Maple Leafs, but this does also have some blessings in disguise.

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https://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/auston-matthews-injury-1.4882145
The Story:
This is an article posted by CBC Sports two days after the incident had occurred with Leafs star center Auston Matthews. During the second period, Matthews was carrying the puck towards the net trying to get a shot on goal. Winnipeg Jets' Jacob Trouba collided with Matthews near the goal net. As soon as the hit occurred, Auston knew something was wrong.

"It's frustrating. There's not much you can do. It sucks, but it's part of the game." Matthews said.  "I knew the guy was coming, I was trying to get a shot off, but you don't really know what to expect because you're so close to the goalie. He took body, which is what you're supposed to do, and just caught me on a weird angle." he continued.

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http://chumam.streamon.fm/listen-pl-11350?smc=87
Pressure to get a Deal Done with Nylander:

This is a podcast from TSN Radio 1050 with Leafs Analyst James Mirtle. During this podcast, one of James' main focus is that this situation puts pressure on the Maple Leafs to sign the unrestricted free agent William Nylander.

The leafs have great depth throughout their lineup with everyone healthy. But without Matthews it becomes significantly less. It gives the leafs a challenge to create four solid lines that will create offense.

Getting a deal done with Nylander (either signing or trading him) will give the Maple Leafs more depth in case another long term injury does occur.  It will also give them a better chance at a run for the Stanley  cup.

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https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maple-leafs-auston-matthews-leaves-game-vs-islanders/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9JrMwZ2-Yw
Salary Talks

Matthews has been prone to injuries during his first three seasons in the NHL. The 2 links provided above are how his previous two shoulder injuries have occurred.

Last season, Matthews missed 20 games due to a similar shoulder injury (on opposite shoulder). Due to his recent injury, he is projected to miss at least 14 games. This is a significant amount of games that the Maple Leafs are missing their superstar.

In my opinion, due to his proness with injuries this could give the Leafs GM Kyle Dubas a reason to give a contract with a decrease in salary. This could help the leafs greaty as they are already in a tough situation with cap space and Matthews will be due for a contract at the end of this season.

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https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/maple-leafs-auston-matthews-taking-quantum-leap-record-start/
Other Players stepping up

The Maple Leafs seem to be generating most of their offence from their top 2 lines. Matthews had a spectacular start to his season. He has been off to the best start to this season by any of the Leafs.

Due to the fact that Auston Matthews will be sidelined because of his shoulder, this will force the rest of the team to pick up the pace for him. The bottom two lines will need to produce points in order for the team to maintain their ranking.

Matthews has already  been out for three weeks now, and the leafs have picked up the pace without him. Guys like Kapanen, Leivo, Dermott, and Ennis have all proven that they are capable of being good NHL pros.

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https://twitter.com/TSNHockey/status/803334467377135617
Kadri's Role:

A couple of years ago, Leafs center, Nazem Kadri was believed to be our first line center and would also play the role of shutting down the opposing teams top line. After drafting Auston Matthews, and signing UFA John Tavares in the summer, Kadri is now the Leafs 3rd line center.

Nazem Kadri plays best when he is given a task. He seems to play extraordinary against top lines. This Matthews injury allows Kadri to move up to the second line and get back to his challenge of shutting down the top line. https://twitter.com/SNstats/status/1057313991385473024

As this tweet by Sportsnet provides,  it proves that Kadri has been significantly better.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARNvMYVufKs
Confidence Boost:

When it was confirmed that Matthews would be out for at least 4 weeks, it first felt as if we hit rock bottom.  The leafs were cruising with victories and it felt that Matthews was a key part of this.

Without a doubt this is one of the many reasons why they signed Tavares. He is here to add depth when players get injured. Since Matthews left, the leafs have gone 6-3 (wins-losses). This in my opinion has to be a huge confident boost for the team knowing that they can compete and win key games without their superstar.

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https://www.facebook.com/search/str/auston+matthews/keywords_search
Resting the Superstar:

The NHL season is 82 games long. It takes a lot out of these young guys to play these games with the amount of travel there is involved.

In no way  am i saying this is great, but it does give Matthews the chance to rest and regain some energy for the long haul. The leafs believe they are Stanley cup contenders this year. Its a long ride and you need all the energy you can possibly have. You need to feel healthy and confident. I believe Auston will come back stronger and healthier than ever.  You also need your coaches confidence and Matthews certainly has that.

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https://www.nbcsports.com/video/maple-leafs-have-no-reason-rush-auston-matthews-back
No Need to Rush a Comeback:

The Maple Leafs have now played 9 games since the Matthews injury. As of this morning (Saturday  November 17th), Toronto now stands first overall in the NHL.

At the time of the incident, it seemed as if we needed Matthews due to his early success. Now, nine games later, the leafs have won six of their last nine games. The fans, the city, and the team as a whole don't feel like we need to rush Auston back until he is feeling 100% healthy. It has been proven many times that if you rush a player back into games, they are prone just to get injured again for an even longer time.

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https://twitter.com/HennyTweets/status/1063165828701376512
Lineup Changes:

Normally you wouldn't want to change your lines if your team is winning games and producing. This has to be the same for the Leafs.

However, if your going to try and find a positive from this its that they get to do it fairly early in the season. Coach Babcock seems to enjoy trying different line combinations, so this gives him and opportunity to do so without trying to fix it while the lines are working. Another positive from this, if another player gets injured, he knows who plays well together so he can just go right away with them.

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https://editorinleaf.com/2018/10/29/toronto-maple-leafs-matthews-injury-2/

Obviously the fans, the Maple Leafs organization, and Auston Matthews wish this injury had never happened. It hasn't hit rock bottom though. In fact, its gone really well. We've all got to be impressed of what they have been able to do without Matthews.

These last ten points are some key points of why I think it may also be a blessing in desguise for the Maple Leafs. After the first nine games, I've got to believe that confidence has to be one of the biggest positives the team can draw from this situation. I really do believe the positives outweigh the negatives.