Junior Matthias played his
major junior ice hockey career with the
Belleville Bulls of the
Ontario Hockey League (OHL) before he was drafted by the
Detroit Red Wings in the second round, 47th overall, in the
2006 NHL entry draft. In his first season in the OHL, Matthias stood at 6'2 and 170 pounds. During the following season,
2006–07, his rights were traded, along with conditional draft picks to the
Florida Panthers in exchange for
Todd Bertuzzi on February 27, 2007. in 2015|left|180px On March 4, 2014, Matthias was traded, along with goaltender
Jacob Markström, to the
Vancouver Canucks in exchange for goaltender
Roberto Luongo and Steven Anthony. On February 13, 2015, Matthias recorded his first career NHL hat-trick in a 5–2 Canucks win over the
Boston Bruins. Despite posting a career-high in goals (18) and points (27) during the
2014–15 season, the Canucks opted not to re-sign Matthias after the expiration of his contract, whereupon on July 6, 2015, he signed a one-year, $2.3 million deal with the
Toronto Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent. Following the signing, Matthias expressed via
Twitter that he was a Maple Leafs fan growing up and that he "couldn't be happier to play for [his] hometown team." In the
2015–16 season, Matthias made his Maple Leaf debut on opening night in a 3-1 defeat to the
Montreal Canadiens on October 7, 2015. Throughout the year, Matthias failed to score at a pace similar to his prior season in Vancouver, but was still seen as a decent producer given his role on the team. After contributing with 17 points in 51 games, on February 21, 2016, Matthias was traded by the rebuilding Maple Leafs to the
Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a 4th round pick in the
2016 Entry Draft (
Keaton Middleton) and prospect
Colin Smith to bolster Colorado's depth for a playoff push, although the team would ultimately not qualify for the post-season. On July 1, 2016, Matthias left the Avalanche organization as a free agent, agreeing to a two-year deal with Central Division competitors, the
Winnipeg Jets. ==International play==