Injury Report: The Injury Thread || Tavares on IR, Pacioretty on IR

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I know the team is hurting for Cs right now, hence calling up Fraser Minten and Jacob Quillan, but if Max Pacioretty (and potentially now Matthew Knies) are going to miss any considerable amount of time, I think Alex Steeves deserves a real crack at an NHL role. He's twenty-five years old now, and has just 11 NHL games spread across four different seasons, and has averaged just 9:15 TOI/game in that time. He's always been a stud in the AHL, but this season he has hit another level, with 21 goals and 35 points in 29 games, not to mention a +13 rating. It's not too dissimilar from Bobby McMann in 2022-23 (21 goals, 29 points in 30 games). I think his north-south and relatively direct approach would be a solid fit with Berube's systems.

Meanwhile, both Quillan (b. 2002) and Minten (b. 2004) could probably benefit from continuing to grow with the Toronto Marlies. I know injuries make some call-ups necessary, but I'd rather see both of them getting better at the AHL level before they are getting bottom-six minutes in the NHL.

Similar thoughts with Hildeby and Murray. Having Hildeby sit on the bench and then come in cold into games like last night's is not doing his development any favours. Let him build some positive momentum in the AHL. Meanwhile, Matt Murray is a ready-made third-string netminder, perfect for this kind of situation where Stolarz is out. Especially now that Murray has gone on another little roll in the AHL (1 GA in last 3 GP), bring him back up.
 

Timelines for Matthew Knies, John Tavares to return to Toronto Maple Leafs lineup

Reda: The Toronto Maple Leafs were already looking for help up front and now Matthew Knies is out, so now what? To discuss that, here are The Insiders, Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun and Darren Dreger. Chris, do we have any sense of how long Knies is going to be out?

Johnston: We do, and in this case it's good news for the Maple Leafs, who have had to deal with their share of injuries, of course.

The early word on Knies, and there was concern when he left the game with an upper-body injury on Wednesday night against Columbus, is that this is going to be a matter of days, not weeks for him, in terms of his return, so it shouldn't be too long on the sidelines for him.

As for John Tavares, who last week left the Leafs lineup with a lower-body injury suffered at practice: He has not resumed skating at this point, so there's still a lack of clarity as to exactly when he'll be back.
He's said to be progressing well, but until he's back on the ice with teammates, he's a ways off from playing again.
 

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