John Tavares did not attend the Toronto Maple Leafs’ morning skate Saturday because of an illness, the team’s public relations account confirmed.
Maple Leafs F John Tavares will not skate this morning (illness).
— Leafs PR (@LeafsPR) October 12, 2024
At the time of filing, no word was given if this would impact his ability to play in the home opener against the Penguins.
Losing Tavares for any amount of time would be a tough blow to the forward group especially on the upper end as he is the only member of the Big Four to find the back of the net so far this season. Tavares scored in the second game of the season to give the Leafs insurance in a win over the New Jersey Devils.
Tavares has previously dealt with ailments in this, with his previous one being a lower-body injury he suffered during a preseason game against the Canadiens. During that contest, he was clipped by Michael Pezzeta and although Tavares did not exit the game his ice time was greatly reduced as a precaution.
“My leg was getting pretty stiff from the hit there I took there in the first,” Tavares said to reporters following that preseason game. “It wasn’t so bad afterwards but kinda throughout the second, and especially in the third, I just got really, really stiff. I didn’t have much and I told Craig to keep it short, but he was determined to give me the rest of the night off.”
Because Tavares was absent from the morning skate, Craig Berube made some adjustments to the second and third lines. Bobby McMann and Pontus Holmberg lined up with William Nylander, while Max Domi moved down to the third line, where he took over as the centreman between Nick Robertson and Max Pacioretty. Additionally, Max Pacioretty took over Tavares’ spot on the first power play which signals that Auston Matthews may be the one taking the draws on the man advantage on Saturday night.
While it remains to be seen if these will end up being utilized in the game against Pittsburgh, the Leafs are prepared to go into the game without Tavares’ services at the very least.
