Toronto Maple Leafs Star Forward Exits Practice Early Due to Apparent Injury

With the Maple Leafs coming off another rough loss, this time at the hands of the Dallas Stars, they are going to need all the firepower necessary to weather this sudden storm of terrible play.

The team needs to get their stars back on track, and players like William Nylander and John Tavares have gone a bit quiet, although the team hopes they can get back on track soon.

However, Tavares might have to wait a little bit, and the reason is not good. During practice on Wednesday, the former Leafs captain ended up leaving after suffering an apparent injury during a powerplay drill.

It's a terrible sign for the Leafs if Tavares is going to miss any possible time as he's been one of the team's best players even amidst their struggles.

In what is even more of a potentially catastrophic situation, according to The Athletic's Jonas Siegel, Tavares was seen limping and favoring his right leg during the aforementioned powerplay drill.

It was such a quick injury that not even head coach Craig Berube had any idea that his former captain was injured:

Here is a closer look at the injury. It seems defenseman Simon Benoit got tangled up with Tavares and swept his leg out from under him.

It's not the first time that Tavares has had to deal with an injury, as earlier this season he not only had a lower-body injury in the preseason, but also missed an earlier game against Pittsburgh due to an illness.

If he were to miss any significant time, it would not only be a blow to Toronto's playoff hopes, but it's a blow to Tavares' future as well. A free agent at season's end, Tavares was playing like he was a decade younger and this injury could seriously derail his next deal.

Toronto can only hope that Tavares was suffering some type of cramp or minor discomfort, as any serious injury will no doubt be a huge blemish on Toronto's season and potentially shift their playoff odds dramatically.

This season, Tavares has 20 goals and 22 assists in 44 games.