Matthews last played Feb. 22 versus the New York Islanders, when he was sandwiched on a hit from Cal Clutterbuck, knocking him out of the Leafs' lineup for the third time this season.
Marody, 21, was drafted in the sixth-round in 2015 by the Flyers, and he recorded 14 goals and 32 assists in 47 games for the University of Michigan this season, good for the Big Ten scoring title.
The pick going to Philadelphia originally belonged to New Jersey, and was acquired as part of the recent Patrick Maroon trade.
TORONTO - The degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), though it has monopolized the conversation, is not the be-all, end-all outcome athletes who suffer repeated blows to the head should fear.
On Tuesday, members of a panel debating the circumstances and consequences of brain damage in hockey advocated a simpler message: Concussions,whether they cause CTE or not,are inherently harmful and debilitating.
Dr. Brian Levine, a neuropsychologist leading a study tracking the brain health of retired professional hockey players, wants to steer the public conversation, at least in part, toward the treatment of concussion symptoms and psychiatric disorders and away from the "hopelessness" of living with an incurable degenerative condition.
"We already knew, before CTE was discovered in professional athletes, that concussions were bad. And multiple concussions were worse," Levine said at an annual conference hosted by The Rotman Research Institute at Toronto's Baycrest Health Sciences.
"There needs to be perspective that CTE is a very important condition. It's something important to study; it's something I'm studying in my lab. But it's not the only pathology, and it's not the only thing that can go wrong. And, in fact, many other things that can happen from concussions can be treated."
Levine referenced former NHL enforcer Todd Ewen, who died in 2015 at age 49, reportedly of a self-inflicted gunshot. Ewen was said to have suffered from memory loss and depression, but he did not have CTE, which has been linked to concussions and can only be diagnosed posthumously.
"Head injury and concussion is very complicated," said Levine, whose longitudinal study at Rotman has found the NHL alumni involved to be mostly free of significant brain impairment on objective tests, yet reporting high levels of emotional and behavioral issues. "Some people will develop CTE. We don't know who or when or how or what that even means in terms of how it will affect their lives. It's very important; we need to learn that. We already know enough about why concussion is bad for you.
" ... Steve Montador had 19 concussions - that's bad. He ended up getting diagnosed with CTE but someone else might have a similar dose and not develop CTE, but they might have lots and lots of problems. So it shouldn't be just about whether someone has CTE."
Among those joining Levine on the panel at the Sheraton Centre Hotel was hockey icon Ken Dryden, a fierce critic of the NHL's handling of head hits and author of "Game Change: The Life and Death of Steve Montador and the Future of Hockey."
A 10-year NHL veteran, Montador was 35 when he died in 2015 of an undisclosed cause. His history of concussions, and battle with depression and substance abuse, was the focus of a recent installment of HBO's "Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel," examining the NHL's stance on concussions and CTE.
"He was living with significant depression. He was living with real problems of memory," said Dryden, a six-time Stanley Cup champion. " ... Whether he was discovered to have had CTE or not, it was a lousy life the last few years. His life had been affected."
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has continued to deny a link between concussions and CTE. Meanwhile, a U.S. District Court judge in Minneapolis is currently deciding whether hundreds of former players suing the league over concussions can move forward with their case as a class action.
Dryden wants to "close the gap" between concussion research and decision-making in hockey by narrowing the focus to issues like preventing all hits to the head, which he says are "undeniably" harmful to players.
Levine holds a similarly straightforward viewpoint on brain injury and its lasting impact.
"When you have a significant head injury, let's say from a motor vehicle accident, single blow, serious head injury, over time you lose brain cells," Levine said. "Brain cells die, your brain shrinks - that's bad. If you have multiple concussions, that's a little bit different, then you're getting lots of hits, more hits. Maybe each individual hit isn't as bad as a serious motor vehicle accident, but that also causes brain tissue volume loss.
"So you're losing brain cells. And you're also causing all sorts of other biological consequences: a cascade of neurochemical reactions, hormonal changes, pituitary changes ... it's a complex injury that has multiple dimensions to it.
"One of them is tau (protein) in the brain, which is found in CTE, but it's not the only thing."
Now that the New York Rangers have cashed in on their expendable assets through multiple deals at the trade deadline, general manager Jeff Gorton has begun planning the next stage of the rebuild that he and team president Glen Sather publicly promised in February.
After trading away Rick Nash, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Grabner, and Nick Holden, the Rangers now possess seven picks in the first three rounds of the 2018 draft, including three in the first round alone.
With multiple high-value picks at his disposal, Gorton told Craig Custance of The Athletic that he's open to trading one of the first-rounders, particularly if a young player who's ready to make an impact becomes available.
"At the point we're at, we're looking to get as many good players as we can," Gorton said. "We're trying to rebuild. It's hard to say no to anything. We have to keep our options open and I think we'll do that."
At last year's draft, the Rangers swung a deal to nab an extra first-rounder, the seventh overall pick, which they used to select Lias Andersson. Now, with a few promising youngsters already in the fold, Gorton wouldn't mind adding a little experience, too.
"They can't all be 18 (years old)," he said. "You need different age groups to build your team."
The defending Western Conference champions were the first team to clinch a playoff spot this year, and have been tabbed by oddsmakers as having the best shot at winning the 2018 Stanley Cup.
Here's the rest of the field, with odds from three weeks ago added for a look at how the landscape has changed through March:
For the first time since 2008, the Chicago Blackhawks will not be participating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
But after being officially eliminated from postseason contention with a loss to Colorado on Tuesday, Chicago only has to look at those Avalanche to see how fast a team can rebound from a down season, according to head coach Joel Quenneville.
"There's a great example, the team we played today, of how far out you can be and how quickly you can recapture that winning attitude and feeling," Quenneville said, according to NHL.com's Tracey Myers.
"Things can go right, from goaltending to special teams to top players. There are a number of ways you can make a difference."
At this time a year ago, Colorado was clearly entrenched as the worst team in the NHL and finished 2016-17 with the worst record of any team since the adoption of the shootout. Now, the Avs sit in a wild-card spot and could even move into third in the Central Division by the end of the regular-season slate.
At least the Blackhawks' situation doesn't appear as dire as Colorado's looked last year. Chicago still has pieces of a championship core in place, which includes injured goaltender Corey Crawford, who was playing some of the best hockey of his career before being forced from the crease for much of this season.
"You're always going to have years where you'll have significant injuries," Quenneville added. "Some things go against you and we've always been able to overcome them and find ways and rectify tough situations and get back on track. This year we've been unable to do it."
NHL general managers have officially recommended a change to the goaltender interference rule, agreeing to leave video reviews up to the league's hockey operations department rather than on-ice referees, commissioner Gary Bettman announced Wednesday.
The team responsible for making the calls would consist of former officials in Toronto's situation room, but the proposed rule is still pending approval by the NHL's Board of Governors and the Competition Committee.
"At their annual March meeting, that concluded today, the general managers overwhelmingly voted to adopt this change to bring an added level of consistency to goaltender interference rulings and add the input of experienced former on-ice officials to the review process," Bettman said in a statement.
"While, since the adoption of the Coach’s Challenge, there have been relatively few controversial calls on goaltender interference - perhaps half a dozen of approximately 170 challenges this season - the objective is to be as close to perfect as possible. However, goaltender interference ultimately is a judgment call."
The Ottawa Senators have signed defenseman Christian Wolanin out of the University of North Dakota to a two-year entry-level contract, the team announced Wednesday.
Wolanin was a Senators' fourth-round draft pick in 2015, and has spent the last three seasons with the Fighting Hawks. In 40 games this season, he led the team with 35 points.
The 23-year-old is expected to join the Senators this week.
