Maple Leafs lose William Nylander during tough start to the season.

It has been tough in the early going of the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and things may be on the verge of getting a lot tougher.

On Friday, during a 5-3 loss to divisional rivals the Buffalo Sabres, the Maple Leafs would lose the services of star forward William Nylander after he was on the receiving end of a stiff crosscheck from Buffalo Sabres forward Jason Zucker.

Nylander would go down on the play and collided with a teammate on his way back to the bench, with the star forward remaining off the ice for the remainder of the game beyond that point. The update from head coach Craig Berube after the game wasn't very promising either, with Berube leaving open the possibility that Nylander might miss Saturday's rematch against the Sabres.

"Maybe, yeah," admitted Berube when asked if Nylander might miss the game. "We'll see. I gotta see tomorrow."

Here's a look at the replay of the incident that led to the injury:

Nylander has been producing offensively for the Leafs to start the season with 3 goals and 11 assists for a whopping 14 points in his first 8 games of the regular season, and losing him for any length of time would be a huge blow to the organization.

Making matters worse is the fact that the Maple Leafs are off to a tough start with a record of 3-4-1 through their first 8 games, including 3 straight losses, and find themselves in the bottom half of the Atlantic Division standings early in the season.

Stay tuned for more on this developing story.