Maple Leafs’ Tavares Leaves Practice With Apparent Injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs could be without another major part of their offence after John Tavares left the team’s practice on Wednesday following an apparent injury during a power play drill. According to TSN’s Mark Masters, Tavares left the ice immediately after taking a fall on the ice and is being evaluated by the team’s medical staff.

There’s no information on what the injury might be or how long — if at all — Tavares could be out. But as head coach Craig Berube noted, he hopes Tavares will be alright following the awkward fall.

“I didn’t even see it… Hopefully he is okay,” said Berube.

Tavares went down following a collision with teammate Chris Tanev in the corner during the drill, and stayed down before heading straight off the ice. Tanev did realize what happened and checked in with Tavares immediately after the collision.

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— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) January 15, 2025

In a contract year this season, the 34-year-old Tavares has seen a resurgence offensively after a 65-point season in 2023-24. In just 44 games this season, he has 20 goals and 42 points, averaging 0.95 points per game — a touch higher than his career 0.93 point-per-game average.

Assuming he doesn’t miss any other time from this injury or this season, Tavares is on pace for 36 goals and 77 points this season. That would include the 1,100-point milestone en route to a strong offensive season for the former Maple Leafs’ captain.

If Tavares does miss some time due to this injury, he would join a long list of Maple Leafs who’ve missed time this season, including Auston Matthews, Calle Jarnkrök, Max Domi, and Jake McCabe among others.

As for the team, they sit atop the Atlantic Division through 45 games this season with 56 points — one point up on the second-place Florida Panthers. While they have lost three straight, they will look to get back in the win column on Thursday against the New Jersey Devils — with or without Tavares in the lineup.