Dr. Harjas Grewal gave Leafs fans his diagnosis of Kirill Marchenko's lower-body injury, which gives Toronto another big issue to deal with early this season.

During Toronto's game against the Calgary Flames on Monday night, they suffered yet another injury as Kirill Marchenko went down clutching his leg and leaving the game despite trying to play through the pain:

He was shoved to the ice as his left leg splayed awkwardly underneath him, and he was slow to get up. It looked like a terrible injury that just made Toronto's early season injury woes a whole lot worse.

Dr. Harjas Grewal gives Maple Leafs fans some positive news

There is some hope though that things may not be as bad as they look as Dr. Harjas Grewal; a doctor known on social media for diagnosing hockey injuries, gave his insight on what he thinks could be the issue:

Likely MCL for Marchenko. Looks less severe than most so wouldn't surprise me if it's a day-to-day to 2-3 week timeline instead of the usual 4-6 weeks

Mechanism can stress inside of ankle too but seems he grabbed his knee

That's not great news in general but it's a lot better than it could be. If Marchenko isn't too damaged, then a day-to-day or two-week timeline isn't necessarily the worst thing compared to what it could be.

For example, John Tavares landed awkwardly after getting clipped in the legs and he's going to be out for a few more weeks with no real update on his condition as of yet, and Marchenko's looked a lot more awkward visually.

Marchenko's injury is a blow, but Toronto has some help on the way

Marchenko was in the midst of a breakout campaign since coming over in a blockbuster trade involving Matthew Knies.

The Russian winger has 14 points in 14 games and was a key part of driving both the Maple Leafs' top-six, and their power-play but luckily for the Maple Leafs, reinforcements are just around the corner as it seems like Dakota Joshua is going to be back soon.

That in turn should push Gavin McKenna to the second line with Nick Paul and William Nylander while Joshua goes to the third line with Colton Sissons and either Vinni Lettieri or Bo Groulx - whoever doesn't get sent down.

That would mean the lineup without Marchenko would look a bit like this:

Cowan - Matthews - Roslovic
McKenna - Paul - Nylander
Joshua - Sissons - Groulx/Lettieri
Duhaime - Blueger - MacEwen

That's not a bad group, and though Joshua would be making his debut he's certainly hungry to get going after struggling with injuries. If he's on his game, he can be a key piece on that third line providing offense and physicality.

For now though, Marchenko's injury could range anywhere from a few days to a few weeks on the shelf. Toronto is certainly hoping for the latter, and it'll be up to their doctors now to assess and diagnose how bad it really is.

POLL

How long do you think Kirill Marchenko will be out for?

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