In an unfortunate play during practice yesterday, Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares suffered an apparent lower-body injury. He left the ice in pain almost immediately.
John Tavares suffers an injury during Leafs practice and immediately leaves the ice 😬
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) January 15, 2025
(via @markhmasters)pic.twitter.com/aXYem2EoI6
Tavares out, Minten in
This morning, the injury was confirmed as the team announced that he has been placed on injured reserve while, in a subsequent move, Fraser Minten has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies.
Maple Leafs F John Tavares has been placed on IR (lower body).
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) January 16, 2025
F Fraser Minten has been recalled from the Toronto Marlies (AHL).
Tavares is currently listed as week-to-week while he deals with this injury.
Impact on the Maple Leafs’ lineup
This injury comes at very unfortunate timing for the team and player. Tavares has been having somewhat of a rebound season offensively and has been a major contributor thus far. Especially as the Maple Leafs have dealt with off-and-on injuries to Auston Matthews and other depth forwards.
With 20 goals and 42 points in 44 games, he currently sits third in team scoring on the season.
Minten, who returns to the Leafs lineup with four points in 11 games this season, will likely fill a depth role while someone else steps up into the top six spot Tavares’ injury has left vacant.
In today’s first practice without Tavares, however, Minten did not slot in to the team’s forward group. Head coach Craig Berube suggested he wanted Minten to practice before being placed in the lineup.
In the meantime, Max Domi moved into the second line centre position while Pontus Holmberg took the third line centre spot.
