The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without star centre John Tavares for at least one week after placing him on injury reserve. The former captain was injured in practice on Wednesday after an awkward fall during a power-play drill. His skates got tangled up with defenceman Chris Tanev‘s and it caused him to over-extend his leg. Tavares looked hurt and was slow to get up. Once he got to his feet, he gingerly skated off, exited practice and did not return. After the session, head coach Craig Berube said that he would need to be evaluated and that he didn’t even see what happened at the moment.
Here’s the John Tavares injury from today’s practice
Coach Craig Berube didn’t have an update yet
“He’s being evaluated” @TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/qFkZX93Pdg
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) January 15, 2025
Tavares will be out for at least the next four games. On Thursday, Keefe returns to Toronto for a contest with the New Jersey Devils. On Saturday, the Leafs take on the Montreal Canadiens. Then on Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning roll into town. On Wednesday, Toronto will host the Columbus Blue Jackets. All those games are against good and hot teams where losing Tavares could be a huge loss. In addition, the team listed the forward as “week-to-week.”
Maple Leafs F John Tavares has been placed on IR (lower body).
F Fraser Minten has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies (AHL).
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) January 16, 2025
Tavares Out, Minten In
As a result of placing Tavares on IR, the Leafs called up Fraser Minten from the AHL Marlies. Minten has had a stint this season with the Maple Leafs and was a great help. The 20-year-old scored two goals and recorded two assists in 11 games for the Leafs. He’s featured in 16 games with the Toronto Marlies, scoring five goals and 10 points. Toronto will be hoping that their 38th pick from the 2022 draft can help them with scoring. The team has had dry offence over the last little while. They’ve scored one goal in their last two games. The Leafs will need a spark with Tavares gone and maybe Minten can be that for them.
Main Photo Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
