Max Pacioretty appears to have suffered a severe lower-body injury in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ game against the Montreal Canadiens, Saturday night. Pacioretty, 35, was cross-checked in the back by Canadiens defender Mike Matheson and immediately fell to the ice in agony while grabbing at his left hamstring.
The veteran winger played just 5:10 of ice time before going down. He had been skating on Toronto’s second line with John Tavares and William Nylander.
After remaining on the bench until the next whistle, Pacioretty needed help from Tavares and Ryan Reaves to get back to the team’s locker room. He put no weight on his left leg.
Pacioretty had to be assisted to the room without putting any weight on his left leg. pic.twitter.com/60A07RJ8xa
— David Alter (@dalter) November 10, 2024
Pacioretty did not return for the start of the second period. Soon after, the Maple Leafs ruled him out with a lower-body injury.
“We’ll have to see in a day or so what’s going on there with him,” head coach Craig Berube said postgame per SDPN’s Jesse Blake. “That’s really all I have for that.”
The former multi-time, 30-goal scorer has had terrible luck with lower-body injuries in the past few years of his career. Last season, while with the Washington Capitals, he missed the first half of the year as he rehabbed from two consecutive Achilles tendon surgeries. Returning in January, Pacioretty stayed healthy for the entire back half of the 2023-24 campaign.
After registering 23 points (4g, 19a) in 47 games with Washington, Pacioretty signed a PTO with Toronto in September. The two sides then inked a one-year, $873,770 contract after the 2024 preseason, with an additional $626,230 in collective games-played bonuses if Pacioretty appeared in 10 and 35 games during the regular season.
He already achieved the first portion of those bonuses by playing 13 games this year. In those appearances, he recorded six points (2g, 4a).
Update (11/11): Toronto has placed Pacioretty on injured reserve and listed him as “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury.
Maple Leafs F Max Pacioretty has been placed on IR (lower body) and is listed as week-to-week.
F Max Domi and William Nylander will not practice today (maintenance).
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) November 11, 2024
