The Toronto Maple Leafs have been battling through some major injuries all season long. Ever since the beginning, some number of players have been out and unable to play. But thankfully, they are getting one of those players back for Saturday's game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Defenseman Chris Tanev has made his triumphant return to the Leafs after missing the last nine games and now Toronto's blue line is starting to at least take some sort of shape.
The 36-year-old had to exit the Oct. 10 game against the Colorado Avalanche after taking a hit from behind by winger Artturi Lehkonen. It wasn't some bone-crushing hit or anything, but it was enough to tweak something, potentially around Tanev's neck area, and put the blueliner on the sidelines for three weeks.
Thankfully, Tanev is set to come back at just the right time.
What Tanev's return means to the Leafs
The Leafs are coming off of two very disappointing performances against the Calgary Flames and the Seattle Kraken, where the goaltending was not great and the defense wasn't that much better. The offense has been carrying this team throughout the first portion of this season, truly stressing just how much they were relying on Tanev to provide his top-tier defense on the blue line for as long as possible.
Tanev will be in just the right spot, too. Going off of what people saw at Leafs practice on Friday, Tanev will be paired next to Morgan Rielly and it is kind of an ideal pairing. To start this season, the veteran was next to Jake McCabe in this ultimate shutdown pairing but balance was needed. Now, McCabe will be with Darren Raddysh and Rielly and Tanev together will form this best-case scenario with what the Leafs have now. Is this blue line even good? Probably not, but they need all the talent that is under contract.
No matter what, Tanev's return should be considered a big deal.
“It’s obviously a huge boost to our team. Tanny is kind of one of those irreplaceable players, with what he brings to our team on every given night,” Troy Stecher said Friday via Sportsnet. “So, I know all the boys are pretty excited to have him back. He’s a huge piece of our team.”
That's right. It doesn't feel great for the team to be so dependent on a 36-year-old defender for some potential to be good, but that's a whole different story. We can celebrate that Tanev is healthy once again and can upgrade the Leafs' defense by a whole lot.
Tanev missed all but 11 games last season for the Leafs, earning two assists in that timeframe. But in the 75 games he played during his first Leafs season back in 2024-25, the veteran blueliner scored three goals and 18 points while averaging 19:45 time-on-ice -- a massive job.
We'll keep our expectations low for Tanev's debut, or at least try to not feel relieved.
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