Maple Leafs’ Max Pacioretty activated from LTIR, Jake McCabe placed on IR retroactive to November 30

Pacioretty is now eligible to return and appears likely to play in Saturday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, although no formal designation has been made yet. He suffered the lower-body injury during a November 9 game against the Montreal Canadiens, where he clutched the back of his leg after getting hit by Canadiens defenceman Mike Matheson. Pacioretty has been skating throughout the week and has participated in practices.

The 36-year-old has recorded two goals and six points in 13 games this season. Pacioretty originally joined the Maple Leafs on a professional tryout agreement and after a stellar training camp, signed a one-year deal worth $873,770, with two performance bonuses each worth $313,115 upon reaching the 10-game and 35-game marks.

Pacioretty has fought through several Achilles injuries to return to the NHL, and he can be deployed throughout the lineup, as a secondary scorer within Toronto’s top-six, or an offensive-minded presence against bottom-six competition. Toronto has lacked depth scoring throughout the season, relying heavily on its stars to generate offence and Pacioretty’s return to the lineup will be gladly welcomed.

“I just like that we’re doing what it takes to win hockey games,” Pacioretty said Tuesday via Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun. “Sometimes that’s cracking down defensively. Sometimes that’s trying to create a little bit more offence. Sometimes that’s special teams. Sometimes you really need your goalies. There’s not (only) one way to win in this league and the teams that only know how to win one way normally don’t go very far when it matters most. We’ve won a lot of hockey games as of late in a lot of different ways and that’s what the best teams do.”

McCabe is eligible to return immediately, as the retroactive designation to November 30 means he’s allowed to return seven days after the fact. The 31-year-old was injured during Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning when he took a puck to the face. It was initially believed that McCabe would return to Wednesday’s game against the Nashville Predators, but he’s slated to miss his fourth consecutive game.