Maple Leafs activate Max Pacioretty from IR; set to return to lineup vs. Wild
The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced that they have activated winger Max Pacioretty off of injured reserve, while also placing winger Matthew Knies on IR retroactive to January 22nd.
Maple Leafs F Max Pacioretty has been activated from IR.
F Matthew Knies has been placed on IR (retroactive to January 22).
Pacioretty has missed the past three games with an upper-body injury that he sustained on January 18th in their 7-3 win over his former team, the Montreal Canadiens. He had been practicing for the past few days, and is set to return to the lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild.
Based on the lines ran during Tuesday’s practice, Pacioretty will slot back into the lineup on the third line with Fraser Minten and Nick Robertson. This trio has yet to play together this season. Pacioretty is also projected to get some ice time on the Leafs’ top power play unit with Knies and John Tavares out of the lineup.
While Pacioretty is far from the goal-scorer that he used to be in his prime, he’s still been somewhat productive for a 36-year-old middle-six winger. In 32 games played, he has 5 goals and 7 assists for 12 points, a 30-point pace over an 82-game season.
In order to make room for Pacioretty on their NHL roster, the Leafs placed Knies on injured reserve. The placement is retroactive to January 22nd, which is when Knies sustained his current upper-body injury in a 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, the Leafs are hopeful that Knies will be able to return to the lineup for Saturday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers.
Knies has had a breakout season for the Leafs with 18 goals and 13 assists for 31 points in 47 games, and he’s already on the way to breaking his previous career-high of 35 points set last season.
The Leafs currently sit in first place in the Atlantic Division with a 30-18-2 record. They’ll look to bounce back from back-to-back losses when they host the Wild on Wednesday at 7 p.m. EST.