Maple Leafs place veteran forward on IR

The Maple Leafs have placed winger Max Pacioretty on injured reserve due to a lower-body injury, per a team announcement .

Pacioretty suffered the injury, which appeared to affect his left hamstring, after he fell awkwardly following a cross-check from Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson on Saturday.

Hes listed as week-to-week, a positive sign given that he needed help getting to the locker room after exiting the ice.

As David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period notes, that timeline indicates its a pulled hamstring rather than a tear, which could have sidelined him for the rest of the season.

As such, itll likely be a simple rehabilitation period for Pacioretty over the next few weeks without involving anything surgical.

Thats a welcome bit of news for Pacioretty, whos been under the knife more than his fair share over the past few years.

A pair of Achilles tears and a trio of surgeries limited him to 52 appearances over the last two seasons with the Hurricanes and Capitals.

A PTO signing by the Leafs late in the summer, a successful training camp earned him a one-year, $1.5M contract .

Thus far, its been a worthy gamble from Leafs general manager Brad Treliving.

Through 13 games, Pacioretty had two goals and four assists, although hed gone without a point in his past five.

Hes been scratched on a couple of occasions earlier in the season for load management purposes, although he played in eight straight games before getting hurt.

Pacioretty had also worked his way up Torontos left-wing depth chart, recently skating in second-line minutes alongside John Tavares and William Nylander .

Paciorettys absence makes the recent reinstatement of Connor Dewar from long-term injured reserve all the more important.

The 25-year-old was scratched against Montreal, but with Pacioretty unavailable, hell likely make his season debut Tuesday against the Senators, especially if captain Auston Matthews remains out with his upper-body injury.

Thats possible after Matthews did not participate in Monday's practice, per David Alter of The Hockey News .

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