Toronto Maple Leafs place veteran centre John Tavares on injured reserve

Toronto Maple Leafs centre John Tavares (91) and Boston Bruins centre Mark Kastelic (47) vie for control of the puck during second-period NHL hockey action in Toronto, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. The Maple Leafs announced Thursday the veteran centre has been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body issue. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

TORONTO — John Tavares was taking part in a drill towards the end of practice Wednesday.

The Toronto Maple Leafs centre got his feet tangled with defenceman Chris Tanev and fell awkwardly to the ice.

Tavares stayed down before skating off the ice hunched over in pain. It didn't look good. The Leafs revealed the initial diagnosis some 24 hours later.

The 34-year-old has been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body issue that will keep him out for at least a week.

"It's unfortunate," Toronto head coach Craig Berube said Thursday morning. "It's just bad luck, but it is what it is. We've got to move on from it right now."

Tavares has 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points across 44 games this season after handing the captaincy to teammate Auston Matthews over the summer.

"He's consistently been himself the whole time I've been here," said Toronto defenceman Jake McCabe, who was set to return to the lineup Thursday against the New Jersey Devils following a four-game absence with an upper-body injury of his own. "Nothing's changed this year, just more of the same."

Berube said Tavares has brought "everything" so far in 2024-25.

"You see his production and what he's done and his leadership," said the coach. "He's been an all-situational guy pretty much … done a real good job for us."

The Leafs recalled forward Fraser Minten from the American Hockey League in a corresponding move Thursday. The 20-year-old has two goals and two assists in 15 career NHL games.

Toronto (27-16-2) is no stranger to key injuries up front in 2024-25 after Matthews sat out a combined 15 games earlier in the schedule with an upper-body injury.

Tavares picked up a lot of that slack.

"He's been huge," Leafs winger Bobby McMann said. "He's been bringing it every single game this season, whether he ends up on the scoresheet or not. Just a good leader every single night.

"Definitely a big hole that's gonna be tough to fill."

Tavares is in the final year of a seven-year, US$77-million contract he signed with Toronto in free agency in the summer of 2018.

"He's an important piece of our team," McCabe said. "An important piece of our dressing room. He's definitely gonna be missed."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2025.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press