Maple Leafs place William Nylander on IR

The injury bug continues to chomp on the Toronto Maple Leafs, as the team announced they've placed William Nylander on injured reserve due to a lower-body injury.

Nylander hits the IR, meanwhile the Leafs have recalled defenceman Marshall Rifai from the AHL's Toronto Marlies, as Chris Tanev is expected to confirm surgery this week on his groin, and could be done for the season.

The Maple Leafs have placed William Nylander on injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 27. pic.twitter.com/cvF6qCLQkZ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 5, 2026

As for Nylander, his IR stint is retroactive to Dec.27, after suffering a lower-body injury against the Ottawa Senators. He left in the second period against the Senators and did not return. There's some speculation the injury occurred during a goal-mouth scrum with Sens' defenceman Artem Zub.

Nylander is available to return to the Leafs lineup as soon as he's healthy, so he could miss just Tuesday's game. Toronto has gone 2-0-2 without Nylander in the lineup, including their most recent overtime loss on Saturday night on Long Island.

Nylander's been a beast for the Maple Leafs this season, and was recently confirmed for Team Sweden's Olympic roster. He's scored 40 points in 33 games this season, and still leads the team in scoring.

Toronto enters the week 19-15-7 on the season and are just three points out of a playoff spot in the very crowded Eastern Conference.