Maple Leafs Provide Injury Updates on John Tavares, Max Pacioretty and Matthew Knies
The Maple Leafs are down a trio of important forwards, but recent updates show they could be close to a return at a very crucial point in the season.
Though the team weathered their first storm of injuries earlier this season, they are currently dealing with a rash of new ailments to stars John Tavares and Matthew Knies as well as veteran Max Pacioretty among others.
But there's been an update regarding the health of those three Leafs forwards, and it's looking like things are heading in the right direction.
John Tavares, Matthew Knies and Max Pacioretty Injury Update Sparks Hope
It's a huge sigh of relief for Leafs fans as not only will they get their trio of key forwards back, but they'll get them back at a very important time.
If they can return at the beginning of February and come back just in time to get some reps in before another big break, it'll give them the chance to gauge how they feel on the ice.
Of the three, Tavares' injury is the one that's most concerning as not only was it a nasty looking accident, but he's been one of the team's best players all season and was a crucial factor in their success.
He has 20 goals and 22 assists in 44 games while anchoring the second line alongside William Nylander and Pacioretty.
In the final year of his contract, Tavares is almost certainly going to re-sign with the Maple Leafs though his output is making that dollar number creep up a bit higher.
Knies was injured when he fell into a linesman against the Columbus Blue Jackets and while it's not as serious as initially thought, his absence is still sorely missed.
Building upon a breakout season with an even better one, Knies has 18 goals and 13 assists this season but has also added 109 hits on the top line as a hybrid intimidator/scoring threat.
Pacioretty was injured after taking a puck to the side of the head against Montreal. He managed to stay in the game but didn't practice with the team and has been out ever since.
Signed in the offseason to add some scoring depth, Pacioretty has had a decent season with five goals and seven assists in 32 games but has added 89 hits and is only 30 away from tying his career high set way back in 2018-19.
Toronto would love to have their players back soon, and if both Knies and Pacioretty are already skating, with Tavares on the way soon; the Maple Leafs can take a firm grasp of the Atlantic Division so long as their health remains intact.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 27 | 777 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Provide Injury Updates on John Tavares, Max Pacioretty and Matthew Knies Who are you most excited to have return? | ||
| Matthew Knies | 216 | 27.8 % |
| John Tavares | 189 | 24.3 % |
| Max Pacioretty | 14 | 1.8 % |
| All of them! | 358 | 46.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
