Dr. Harjas Grewal has come through with his analysis of John Tavares' injury, and Toronto Maple Leafs fans are going to be cringing at what he predicted.
John Tavares went down with what appeared to be a right leg injury against the Buffalo Sabres following a collision with forward Josh Norris.
Tavares was down for a while, and while he got up on his own, it did not look good. He immediately went back to the locker room and was unable to return for the rest of the game.
Following the match, Dr. Harjas Grewal, a viral sports doctor who analyzes hockey injuries, took to X to give his take on Tavares' injury. He claimed that this could be an MCL injury, which means the former Leafs captain might miss over a month's worth of action.
Not a great angle but looks like some inward stress to the right knee (and maybe ankle too)
Mechanism most often causes MCL injuries and/or high ankle sprains (timeline depends on severity, often 4-6 weeks)
Torn ACL also possible but less likely for Tavares
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Dr. Grewal also said that there is a slight possibility that this is an ACL injury, although he doesn't believe that this is going to be the case with Tavares specifically.
Regardless, this is not the news you want to hear as a fan, especially as the Leafs blew a 4-2 lead against the Sabres and lost 5-4 in overtime following Tavares' injury.
What's next for the Maple Leafs?
The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to evaluate Tavares today and run some tests. Only then will the team truly have a timeline on what is going on with the forward.
It was too soon last night to really say for certain what the Maple Leafs are expecting from Tavares. The only silver lining here is that they traded for a center last night, in Aatu Raty.
While Raty was sent down to the Toronto Marlies, it would appear as though an injury to Tavares could get him bumped up into the Maple Leafs lineup on the fourth line.
This remains a developing story.
Do you believe John Tavares will miss a lot of time?
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Maple Leafs make unfortunate decision involving Aatu Raty after trading for him