Five shifts. That’s all Chris Tanev managed in Denver on October 10 before heading down the tunnel, and he didn’t skate again after the 11:08 mark of the first period. Ten days later, the 36-year-old is still sidelined, listed week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Toronto won that night 6-3, but the fallout has been hard to miss. A 0-2-1 skid against Utah, Buffalo and the Islanders followed before Gavin McKenna’s third-period power-play goal beat San Jose 3-1 on Monday. That snapped the slide and moved the Leafs to 4-4-2.
What does it say about Toronto’s depth that one defenceman’s absence sets off alarm bells? Plenty, given where this franchise has been. Last season ended at 32-36-14, last in the Atlantic, snapping a run of nine straight playoff appearances.
The Leafs conceded 299 goals, second-most in the league, and Auston Matthews tore his MCL in March. Then the reset arrived.
Summer Overhaul
John Chayka came in as general manager in May, Jim Hiller replaced Craig Berube in June, and a lottery win delivered McKenna first overall. The Hockey News’s preseason magazine projected a team in the playoff hunt.
The first three weeks have been bumpier. John Tavares is also out week-to-week, and before Monday’s win, Toronto was the only Atlantic club below .500. As of last weekend, only the Flyers had allowed more five-on-five goals in the Eastern Conference.
The market has reacted. Earlier this month, Toronto was priced to reach the postseason. The latest odds from a popular online sports betting and casino site now list the Leafs to miss the postseason, with the “No” side favoured. For bettors who read depth charts closely, that swing tells the story of a thin blue line.
Tanev’s Injury Woes
Tanev was concussed after a collision with Dawson Mercer on October 21 last season. In Philadelphia ten days later, an awkward hit from Matvei Michkov left him stretchered off with an upper-body injury, and he didn’t return until December 23.
Five days on from that return, against Detroit, a groin injury ended his season. He put off surgery hoping to return, eventually had a core-muscle procedure, and finished with two assists in 11 games. At the September 16 media day, Chayka called him “as healthy as anybody.”
Tanev resumed skating on Saturday, but Hiller had no update on a return. He is in year three of a six-year, $27 million deal with a full no-move clause, and he is the load-bearing wall of this blue line.
Elliotte Friedman said on the latest edition of 32 Thoughts that Toronto hoped to play through the absence before reassessing, adding that Chayka “doesn’t go up to the plate to hit singles.” If a bigger swing comes, these four names stand out.
Defenseman | Team | Age | Shot | Contract Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Alexander Nikishin | Carolina | 25 | Left | Unsigned RFA |
Rasmus Ristolainen | Philadelphia | 31 | Right | $5.1M, expiring |
Zach Whitecloud | Calgary | 29 | Right | $2.75M through 2027-28 |
Colton Parayko | St. Louis | 33 | Right | $6.5M through 2029-30 |
Alexander Nikishin (Carolina Hurricanes)
For sheer upside, nobody on the market touches Alexander Nikishin. He scored 11 goals and 33 points in 81 rookie games and won a Stanley Cup last season. The spring was harder than the ring suggests: his playoff ice time fell below 15 minutes, and a hit from Ottawa’s Tyler Kleven left him concussed.
He has asked out and remains unsigned. Friedman reported that a framework with the Rangers collapsed over contract terms, with Nikishin seeking roughly $9 million a year over five years and Carolina wanting the equivalent of two first-round picks.
Since then, he has switched agents to Paul Theofanous and landed on Carolina’s injured, non-roster list over the contract dispute. Friedman said this month that no trade is imminent, and Nikishin must sign by December 1 to play this season.
For Toronto, he’d be the long-term successor to Morgan Rielly on the left side. Placing Max Domi and Dakota Joshua on long-term injured reserve has opened some room. Colorado’s top-10-protected 2027 first plus a prospect such as Ben Danford would be a starting point, though re-signing in Carolina remains the likeliest outcome.
Rasmus Ristolainen (Philadelphia Flyers)
Few reclamation projects have aged this well. Buffalo drafted Rasmus Ristolainen eighth overall in 2013, and Philadelphia rebuilt him into a heavy right-shot top-four presence who finally reached the playoffs last spring, in his 13th season.
He opened this season on the top pair and scored once in three games. Then he took a shot off the hand in an October 3 overtime loss to Carolina. The Flyers placed him on injured reserve, retroactive to that date, and he remained there through the weekend.
He’s in the final year of his deal, which makes him a natural rental. Toronto knows this road, too: Bruce Garrioch reported in May 2025 that a strong Leafs offer at that year’s deadline was rebuffed, and Anthony Di Marco reported that Philadelphia kept him at this year’s deadline because its price wasn’t met.
He’s a right-shot penalty killer, but two triceps ruptures in two seasons, plus this latest setback, are hard to ignore. A second-round pick and a prospect feels like the floor.
Zach Whitecloud (Calgary Flames)
Then there’s the cleanest fit of the lot. Whitecloud went undrafted out of Bemidji State, won the Cup with Vegas in 2023, and arrived in Calgary in January’s Rasmus Andersson trade. His workload there jumped to around 23 minutes a night.
The Flames opened 0-5 and sit 2-6-0, even after ending Carolina’s seven-game winning streak on Saturday. On October 7, David Pagnotta said on Daily Faceoff’s insider podcast that Toronto is among the teams that would look at Whitecloud, noting that the previous regime had a lot of interest.
That echoes Darren Dreger’s report in March that 15 or more teams were circling. Whitecloud is a defence-first right shot averaging just over 20 minutes this season with heavy penalty-kill duty, and he has no trade protection. Oliver Ekman-Larsson going the other way, plus a second-round pick or a prospect, makes sense for both sides.
Colton Parayko (St. Louis Blues)
Make no mistake: this one runs through the player, not the general manager. Colton Parayko won the Cup in 2019 and an Olympic silver with Canada this year. On October 8, in the Blues’ home opener, he played his 804th game, a franchise record for a defenceman.
At the March deadline, the 6-foot-6 shutdown defender declined to waive his no-trade clause for Buffalo. Frank Seravalli reported that Parayko preferred to stay in St. Louis, and Kevin Weekes reported that he favoured staying in the West. Toronto is in the East.
He’s owed $6.5 million a year through 2029-30. The price would likely run to Colorado’s first, a top prospect and salary going back. If that salary were Rielly’s, Rielly’s own no-move protection would give him a say as well.
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