TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston details the recovery timeline for Auston Matthews after Toronto’s captain underwent successful MCL surgery Thursday, the NHLPA seeking more player feedback on supplementary discipline, the fallout from the heated exchange between Gary Bettman and Eric Tulsky at the NHL GM meetings, and more.

Auston Matthews undergoes surgery on his left knee

Laura Diakun: We’ve got our insider, Chris Johnston, joining us now with more news on Auston Matthews.

And Chris, a week ago, it was Auston Matthews tearing his MCL after that knee-on-knee hit with Radko Gudas of the Ducks. And now on Thursday, he will undergo surgery. What do we know about the procedure and how long will the recovery time be for the Leafs captain?

Johnston: Most important for the Leafs and for Matthews is the fact that he is expected to fully be ready to start next year. That by getting this procedure done now, there will be enough time with a 12-week recovery for him to have what we would consider a normal summer, doing his typical workouts and ramping up for what promises to be an important year next year.

And as to how they arrived at this point, after the MRI last Friday confirmed that he had the Grade 3 MCL tear, Matthews took some time to consider his options. Obviously that could have included not going under the knife, but ultimately, surgery was deemed to be the best form of recovery for him. He did that on Thursday, and now the process of healing begins.

NHLPA will seek more player feedback on supplementary discipline

Diakun: The process of supplemental discipline has been a hot topic in the NHL, and was so this week at the GM meetings in Florida as well. What is the NHLPA doing with this issue?

Johnston: Certainly, you’re right. Coming out of those GM meetings, you had Gary Bettman, you had George Parros defending the Department of Player Safety, saying that they really believe the right process is in place when they’re looking at suspensions. And because of the Radko Gudas–Auston Matthews play, there has been discussion out there. And what I would say is that even though it was sort of put to rest in a small way at the GM’s meeting, this is a conversation that could continue.

And that’s where the NHLPA comes into play here. It was of course, Connor McDavid putting his words to the need maybe to look at the process of discipline. I think that that’s significant given his standing in the game. And what the NHLPA plans to do is talk to his peers as they go through their travels this spring and into the summer meetings. And if there’s enough consensus for change or enough push here from other peers, I think this is a conversation the NHLPA might somewhere down the line bring back up with the NHL.

Fallout from Tulsky-Bettman exchange at GMs meeting

Diakun: And speaking of those GM meetings, they wrapped up on Wednesday with a little bit of fireworks. There was a heated exchange. What more can you tell us about what went down there on that final day?

Johnston: Maybe not quite as much heat as initially reported is my sense, but it was with Eric Tulsky, the GM of the Carolina Hurricanes, and Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, over the contention that headshots might not be being enforced in the way that Tulsky and others would like.

And it’s kind of interesting because these GM meetings don’t typically feature this kind of back and forth. I reached out to Tulsky, he didn’t want to talk about this, but talking to a few other people in the room, the sense was he wasn’t taking issue with any specific hit, more just the general standard perhaps slipping with that Rule 48 in the league. And it’s kind of something interesting as we move forward here. Maybe more GMs come alongside because that rule came about initially 10, 15 years ago because GMs pushed for it.

Decision on Team Canada’s coach not expected until 2027

Diakun: All this GM talk, we’ve got one more question to ask you here. Doug Armstrong announcing on Tuesday that he was stepping down as the general manager of Team Canada, the men’s national team, telling Pierre LeBrun that it was time for a change. Could we also see a change when it comes to the head coach? Is Jon Cooper’s days numbered now with the national team as well?

Johnston: That really remains to be seen. And I think it’s going to be some time for this to play out because what Hockey Canada is going to do is, as they go through this process of finding Doug Armstrong’s replacement as a GM, they’re going to leave the decision on a head coach to the person they ultimately hire to take that job.

And so in the meantime, that sort of leaves Jon Cooper, I guess, waiting to hear and see where things go. Of course, he has had pretty successful stints at the 4 Nations Face-Off and at the Milan Olympics for Canada. He did win silver. I don’t know that he’s too concerned about this just yet with the next best-on-best tournament not until 2028, two years from now, but Hockey Canada doesn’t expect to have a new GM in place until 2027, so we won’t learn about the fate of the head coach until that time.

Diakun: And the Lightning are definitely keeping Jon Cooper busy these days. Alright, that is our insider, Chris Johnston.