The Toronto Maple Leafs don't have a whole lot of defensemen capable of playing in the top-four every night and impacting the game at a high-end level. Unfortunately, the Leafs just lost one of their few.
Chris Tanev left Saturday night's game in Colorado against the Avalanche with an upper-body injury in the first period. The 36-year-old blueliner did not return to the game.
Chris Tanev left the game and will not return due to an upper-body injury, per @sportsnetkyle. pic.twitter.com/2FuqSidN1X
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 11, 2026
It might not have looked like much but it was after a collision with Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen in front of the Maple Leafs crease that then cause Tanev to leave the ice in some discomfort. It's unknown what it is but if it is an upper-body injury, you can only imagine the jab of Lehkonen's elbow, or something else on that play, caused him to get severely banged up.
Tanev is not some sort of ironman, unfortunately. Just last season he missed all but 11 games due to various injuries -- the most serious being that he needed core muscle surgery and was declared out for the remainder of the season.
A Chris Tanev absence is the last thing the Maple Leafs need
The veteran blueliner is so important to the Leafs blue line. He has already earned the title of being one of the NHL's top defensive defensemen several times in his 17-year career, and he has continued to do that this season for Toronto. Tanev really is that piece that makes the Leafs' defensive group look more whole than just a rag-tag group of rearguards cobbled together in some haphazard way.
Without Tanev, the sole responsibility of being a primary defender lies on Jake McCabe. We're not expecting the likes of Darren Raddysh, Morgan Rielly, or Oliver Ekman-Larsson to take on the opposing team's top forwards and shut them down. That's not really what they have been able to do throughout their lengthy careers.
This might only push general manager John Chayka further in the direction of needing defensive help right now, too. Nick Blankenburg looked good during Saturday's win over Colorado, scoring his first goal as a Leaf on his first shot and during his first shift, so he could very well stay involved. But now we're talking about a right side that has Raddysh, Troy Stecher, and Blankenburg all the way down.
They can maybe last a week or so, but whether or not they can keep up a level of performance needed to get this Leafs team into the playoffs is in question.
We will have to see if Chayka has anything up his sleeve if Tanev is out for a long time -- and we'll hopefully get an injury update soon.
The Leafs next visit the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday to wrap up this vital road trip, before hosting the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
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