The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without veteran center John Tavares for the foreseeable future after the team announced Saturday that the 36-year-old is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. The expected absence could last up to six weeks.

Tavares suffered the injury during Thursday's 5-4 overtime loss against the Buffalo Sabres. In the third period, he was struck awkwardly when Buffalo forward Josh Norris fell into him during a collision involving Nick Paul. Tavares went down and remained on the ice in considerable discomfort before receiving assistance to the dressing room. He favored his left leg while leaving and did not return to the game.

The injury is a major setback for Toronto, considering Tavares had recorded two goals and five assists for seven points across seven appearances this season. He also led the Maple Leafs with 31 goals last season, finishing with 71 points while appearing in all 82 regular-season games.

Depending on his recovery timeline, Tavares could miss between four and 19 games, with a six-week absence potentially keeping him out until the end of November. His injury comes just two games after he missed a contest to attend the birth of his child.

Toronto has already been dealing with the absence of defenseman Chris Tanev, who is also listed as week-to-week because of an upper-body injury. With Tavares our, the Maple Leafs must adjust their forward combinations and find alternatives to fill his role behind Auston Matthews.

During Saturday's morning skate, Nick Paul moved into the second-line center position between Easton Cowan and Kirill Marchenko. Bo Groulx is also set to enter the lineup, while rookie Gavin McKenna takes Tavares' place on the top power-play unit alongside Matthews, William Nylander, Darren Raddysh and Marchenko. That power-play combination has already produced three goals in 6:24 of shared ice time.

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Toronto has not announced whether Tavares will be placed on injured reserve or long-term injured reserve, and no corresponding roster move has been confirmed. The team has just 12 forwards available on its roster.

The Maple Leafs enter Saturday's matchup against the New York Islanders with a 3-3-2 record, placing them sixth in the Atlantic Division and one point behind the Sabres for the Eastern Conference's final playoff position. After missing the postseason last season for the first time since 2015-16, Toronto faces an early challenge as it prepares to continue without one of its most productive forwards.