Maple Leafs' Chris Tanev Injured Vs. Avalanche
It's the same ol' story for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as just two weeks into the season, defenceman Chris Tanev had to leave a game injured.
The rugged right-handed defenceman was hit awkwardly against the Colorado Avalanche, and appeared to have suffered an upper-body injury on the player, perhaps a separated shoulder. Here's the play in question:
Tanev seems to get hurt on this play in the first period https://t.co/eNx8goax4y
— Maple Leafs Hotstove (@LeafsNews) October 11, 2026
Tanev has one assist in six games, playing an average of 16:50 of ice-time per game. Tanev's been paired mostly with Morgan Rielly this season, and on Saturday night was moved up to play alongside with Darren Raddysh.
The Maple Leafs penalty kill is ranked 1st in the league this season and Tanev's a huge part of that. They've been very sound defensively at 5-vs-5 as well, so losing Tanev is going to be a massive blow to their entire game.
If Tanev is out long term, don't be surprised to see John Chayka make a move to acquire a defensive defenceman, even with Nick Blankenburg and Troy Stecher ready to step in and eat up Tanev's minutes.