The 2025-26 Toronto Maple Leafs season have been filled with injuries since the drop of the puck back on Opening Night. Having to deal with adversity ever since has made it quite a miserable grind for the Maple Leafs as they have struggled to stay afloat in the Stanley Cup Playoff race.
But in particular, the Leafs have been hit hard in the back end, with multiple goalies and defensemen ravaged with injuries that have kept them out for substantial periods of time over the course of the season. Nevertheless, Toronto has provided a massive injury update on several key members of the squad on Monday as they hope for reinforcements to arrive soon.
Maple Leafs provide massive injury updates for several key players
For defenseman Jake McCabe, who had to leave last Saturday’s game against the New York Islanders in what turned out to be a lower-body injury, many were concerned that he could be out long-term to significantly dash the Leafs’ playoff hopes going forward. However, he received some much-needed good news in that he will likely be out for just a week.
In terms of Brandon Carlo, Carlo had been out of action since mid-November after blocking a shot against the Los Angeles Kings. He was expected to be back by December, but that return was surprisingly delayed into the new year. It turned out that Carlo actually suffered an ankle infection from a metal plate that had been placed in his ankle over eight years ago and required surgery to clean things up, leading to the delay in recovery. Nevertheless, now with a clean bill of health, Carlo could be an option to return as early as tomorrow, which would no doubt provide a significant boost to the Toronto blueline going forward.
Unfortunately, the prognosis for defensive stalwart Chris Tanev wasn’t as optimistic as he is currently being evaluated for potential surgery this week that could put him out for the rest of the regular season and possibly longer. Tanev had been a warrior since joining the Leafs, but injuries have taking a huge toll on him this season as he had to deal with two upper-body ailments earlier in the year before his current groin injury. In any event, it looks like Toronto has to be prepare for life without their top defensive defenseman for an extended period of time in the days ahead.
Similarly for goaltender Anthony Stolarz, the outlook doesn’t look too good for the Leafs. Despite seen skating for the first time last week since suffering an upper-body injury back on November 11 against the Boston Bruins, the timeline for his return is still indefinite. The only positive is that Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube had confirmed that he wasn’t dealing with a concussion, in which Stolarz has had an unfortunate history of.
For Dakota Joshua, he is now back in Toronto after suffering a serious injury from running into the boards on a missed hit in a game against the Detroit Red Wings on December 28. The concerning ailment turned out to be a kidney laceration, which will likely keep him out long-term for the time being as he recovers.
Finally, the Leafs significantly miss top scorer William Nylander, as he was placed on the injured reserve retroactive to December 27. Nylander has missed four games already due to a lower-body injury, but had been seen skating on his own on Monday as he hopes to make it back to the lineup soon. The 29-year-old star winger had been one of the most durable Leafs in recent years, having played at least 81 games in each of his previous four seasons. So hopefully his current ailment is more of just a one-off event.
Nevertheless, having some reinforcements arriving soon in Carlo and McCabe is better than having none at all, as the Maple Leafs look to turn things around in the second half with hopes to keep their consecutive playoff appearances streak alive.