Babcock doesn't know when Matthews will be ready to return

Don't ask Mike Babcock when Auston Matthews is coming back.

"I don't have a clue, honest to God, I don't know," the Toronto Maple Leafs head coach told reporters when asked for an update on his second-year superstar Wednesday night following a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

Babcock said the Leafs' medical staff will determine when Matthews is healthy enough to go.

"We'll go in there tomorrow, they'll do whatever they do with him and they'll keep me abreast as it goes on," Babcock added. "One thing I know is you can't go to a guy and ask him every day, you're putting pressure on a guy. It's not like that. When they're ready to play, they're going to tell me and we're going to get him in."

Matthews missed the first game of his young career Wednesday night with what the club would only call an "upper-body injury." He was a game-time decision Monday night, and ultimately played in a shootout win over the Vegas Golden Knights.

Toronto has a home-and-home against the Boston Bruins on Friday and Saturday nights, and is then off until next Thursday.