Zach Werenski is expected to be out week to week for the Columbus Blue Jackets with a lower-body injury.
The defenseman exited a 4-3 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday at 9:02 of the second period after getting tangled with Devils forward Ondrej Palat. Werenski started crawling toward the bench before he was helped to his feet, but he was not able to put any weight on his left leg.
"He's still getting evaluated by our docs," Blue Jackets coach Pascal Vincent said Thursday. "It's not going to be day to day most likely. I'm sure it's going to be week to week now. How many weeks? I don't know."
Werenski leads the Blue Jackets in points (25; one goal, 24 assists) and average ice time (24:04) in 34 games this season.
"He takes up a lot of minutes out there," defenseman Jake Bean said. "We'll miss him for sure, but we have a lot of guys that can fill in and pick it up."
Werenski missed two games earlier this season after sustaining a quad contusion in the Blue Jackets' season opener. That came after he missed the final 69 games last season with a shoulder injury.
"When I saw him down, I was hoping he's going to be all right and nothing serious," goalie Elvis Merzlikins said." It's tough. He's one of our key defensemen. It really [stinks] for him. I feel bad for the guy because he works hard. He tries every single game, every single practice. … Those injuries, it's something that you can't control."
Columbus (11-18-7), which is last in the Metropolitan Division, next hosts the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday (7 p.m. ET; BSOH, SNO).
"Look at what he had to overcome last year," Bean said. "You see how much work he did to get back. He'll figure it out and get through it."
NHL.com independent correspondent Craig Merz contributed to this report
