This article is part of our Frozen Fantasy series.
I love Auston Matthews. Who doesn't? But I don't love his injuries.
Then again, who does?
Matthews is a big boy. He plays the game fast, so there's a lot of force behind the hits he absorbs. So injuries seem inevitable. Does that make him injury prone?
I spend over an hour commuting each way to work. I have a lot of time to think. And every time I thought about Matthews this week, another guy popped into my head. And it scared me. Every time.
Gulp. Malkin is an all-world player. He's easily in the 10 best players in the world…when he's on the ice. But he misses an average of about 20 games a season. And those absences weren't for broken bones, food poisoning or the flu. They were for shoulders and knees. And that elbow.
Those are wear-and-tear injuries. They're the kind that can linger. Remind you of anyone?
I hope not. But like I said, I have a lot of time to think. And I just can't shake images of Malkin in my head.
Sure, Matthews needed surgery for a broken femur as a young teen. No issues there. But that was followed by a back injury with the ZSC Lions in Switzerland. Again as a teenager. And then a concussion and injuries to both shoulders in the NHL. The shoulder may be the same one he hurt in high school. And he's only 21.
Malkin is a brilliant offensive player. Matthews
