Devastating update on Maple Leafs' forward Ilya Mikheyev.

The Toronto Maple Leafs lost forward Ilya Mikheyev to injury on Friday night and now the initial updates regarding his status make it sound like he could be out for a very, very, long time indeed. 

Ilya Mikheyev was injured on Friday night during the third period of the Maple Leafs' game against the New Jersey Devils. The injury occurred when New Jersey Devils' forward Jesper Bratt fell awkwardly to the ice, resulting in his skates going up into the air and accidentally lacerating Mikheyev across his right wrist in the process. The cut was obviously a bad one as you could clearly see blood spurting out of the injury as he rushed back to the Maple Leafs' dressing room, a sight that clearly left some pretty shaken up about the whole incident. 

“It’s terrifying,” said Leafs goaltender Micheal Hutchinson as per Sportsnet. “Hopefully he’s alright.”

Hutchinson was not the only player who was shaken by what had transpired however even an experienced veteran like Maple Leafs captain John Tavares admitted that it was an awful sight to behold.

“It was obviously scary there, seeing that much blood. Obviously, a guy that we care deeply about and was having a great night and playing tremendous for us, so thoughts are with him,” Tavares said. “Emotionally, that can hit you a little bit when you see something that can be as dangerous as something like that.”

Well if that was an emotional blow to the Leafs then the news coming out today is likely to be devastating to the players in that locker room. According to a report from Russian hockey insider Igor Eronko of Sports Express, Ilya Mikheyev is now "expected to miss several months" as a result of the injury he suffered of Friday night, a time frame that could very well spell the end of the season for the first year National Hockey League forward. Eronko is of course not an official source within the Maple Leafs organization but is an impeccable reporter and there is no doubt that, if he is making a claim this bold, his sources on this matter are impeccable.

Obviously very bad news for the Leafs here, especially given that Mikheyev was proving to be a valuable contributor with 8 goals and 15 assists for 23 points through the first 39 games of his NHL career.