Max Pacioretty helped off the ice after being injured on Saturday.

This is bad news for both the Toronto Maple Leafs and veteran National Hockey League forward Max Pacioretty.

On Saturday night, as Pacioretty and the Leafs were taking on the Montreal Canadiens, a team Pacioretty once captained, Pacioretty suffered an apparent injury to his left leg area. It is hard to tell exactly what happened as there wasn't much to look at on the play, but Pacioretty appeared to pull something in his left leg that left him unable to put any weight down on that leg.

Pacioretty fell to the ice and signaled to the bench before, to his credit, he was able to get up on one leg and hobble his way over towards the bench before eventually being helped by his fellow teammates. Pacioretty was unable to put any weight down on his leg in the tunnel either, being helped by members of the Maple Leafs training staff as he headed to the back.

Here's a look at the replay, as you can see it is difficult to tell exactly what has transpired here.

Pacioretty has seen the later years of his NHL career completely derailed by injuries and it would be terrible to see that repeated again this season. Pacioretty played just 39 games during the 2021-22 NHL season, 5 during the 2022-23 season and 47 during the 2023-24 season, all of which were cut short due to injury.

This was something the Maple Leafs took into consideration when they signed Pacioretty to a one year deal out of training camp, including a pair of performance bonuses in his deal that are contingent on him playing a specific number of games. The first such bonus required him to play 10 games, which he has already earned, but the second bonus only kicks in at 35 games and Pacioretty has only appeared in 12 games this season. Both of those bonuses are worth $313,115 each, and it will remain top be seen if he can collect on the second one.