The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Max Pacioretty to beef up their forward depth in 2024. After injuries crushed their seasons in years past, they wanted to be prepared for what could come this season. It has not been a great start for the veteran, with only two goals in 13 games. Now, the Maple Leafs have placed Max Pacioretty on injured reserve and given him a time designation.
“Maple Leafs F Max Pacioretty has been placed on IR (lower body) and is listed as week-to-week,” the official team account posted on social media.
The reporting continued after that designation. TSN's Darren Dreger reported on Sunday that Pacioretty would be out for a while with an “extensive” injury. There is no intel on what the actual injury is, but Dreger guessed that it was an upper-leg issue. Regardless, the Maple Leafs need a new depth forward.
This is not a new phenomenon for Pacioretty. He injured his Achilles twice, once with the Vegas Golden Knights and once with the Carolina Hurricanes. He played 47 games with the Washington Capitals last season after recovering from a second Achilles injury.
Maple Leafs must get scoring from top lines with Max Pacioretty out
The Maple Leafs are built around what fans call the core four. John Tavares, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner combine to take up 53.4% of the salary cap. With those four large contracts on the books, depth scoring is vital. That is what Pacioretty was supposed to bring on a veteran minimum contract.
Matthews is also on injured reserve, but his injury is not expected to keep him out very long. Their bottom six is not ideal now, as Cell Jarnkrok is out, and Bobby McMann has bumped up in Matthews' role. They must keep scoring from the top of the lineup to keep pace in a tightly-contested Atlantic Division.
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