Max Pacioretty Expected To Join Maple Leafs For Practice Next Week, No Timeline On Connor Dewar Injury

KANATA, Ont. — The Toronto Maple Leafs expect that Max Pacioretty will be able to join his teammates for practice at some point this week.

The forward was one of a handful of skaters who took the ice with the club's return-to-play staff on Friday, one day before the club traveled east to face the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre.

"He's doing better," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. " I think he'll be practicing with us next week."

Pacioretty took a puck to the head area in front of the net during a shot attempt from teammate Auston Matthews on Jan .18 against the Montreal Canadiens. Pacioretty remained in the game but missed the next two contests against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Signed to a one-year deal before the season began, he has five goals and seven assists in 32 games and is just three games shy of collecting the final games-played bonus in his contract, bringing his compensation for the 2024-25 season closer to maximum $1.5 million.

Related: Why the Maple Leafs Signed Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz to Contracts Following Their Professional Tryouts

Ironically enough, Pacioretty's other injury this season also came against the Canadiens on Nov 9. The lower-body injury forced him out of action for nearly a month.

Dewar's return doesn't seem close

The Maple Leafs announced on Saturday morning that they placed Dewar on injured reserve while calling up rookie forward Nikita Grebenkin. Dewar has not been on the ice since his Jan. 20 when he logged 5:10 of ice time against the Lightning. And it's not clear what the injury, although he took a pretty hard hit from Luke Glendening in the first period.

"That's a tough one because that's a feel thing," Berube explained. "It's going to take a little bit of time.

"I can tell you that from past injuries I've seen, same. It's hard to put a timeline on it because you think it's a week and then it's two weeks and it goes on. So I'm not saying it is going to be two weeks. I'm saying it's hard to figure out that injury. It's a feel thing. Once gets on the ice, when he starts to get on the ice and get practicing a little bit, we'll know a lot more."

Related: 'It Just Had To Get Taken Care Of': Connor Dewar Reveals Reason Behind Shoulder Surgery Following First Full Practice with Maple Leafs

Initially, the Leafs said Dewar was day-to-day with an upper-body injury. If he were able to return sooner, they likely would have placed Pacioretty on IR for roster purposes instead of Dewar, since Pacioretty has been out for longer.

Dewar had off-season shoulder surgery in the summer.

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