After dealing with injury, the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to get back one of their most important defensive assets in Chris Tanev. How important will his return be for the team's competitive aspirations?
Several things went wrong for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2025-26 season, resulting in the team missing the post-season for the first time since 2016-17.
But after the failed campaign come new expectations. They’ve revamped the lineup with off-season additions, selected Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick, and have a slew of players returning from injuries.
Among those healthy again is veteran right-handed defenseman Chris Tanev.
Tanev enters year three with the Maple Leafs, but truthfully, the second season felt like it was skipped past.
He played just 11 games and never really looked like himself in any of them. At 36, there are concerns that Tanev won’t fully recover from the several injuries he faced last year and throughout his 16-year NHL career. Still, he has insisted he is healthy again and ready to be a key contributor for the Maple Leafs.
"I mean, I'm feeling good," Tanev said in an interview with Toronto Star’s Dave Feschuk on Sept. 4. "We still have to talk to the doctors, I think, in a week or two. But the plan is, hopefully, I’m ready to rumble once everything gets going."
If what he says is true, it's a big deal for the Maple Leafs. In his first season with the team, Tanev dressed in 75 games, averaging 19:45 of ice time. He was a crucial lockdown defender and was the catalyst for a penalty kill that operated at 77.9 percent in the regular season and 81.6 percent in the post-season.
In the 2024-25 season, with Tanev on the ice at 5-on-5, the Maple Leafs outscored their opponents 55-34 and held an expected goals percentage of 51 percent, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
In 2024-25, the Maple Leafs outscored their opponents 169-139, but in 2025-26, they were outscored 206-171.
There are, without a doubt, several factors at play in why those numbers were so poor. The goaltending was worse, the coaching system didn't work, and by the deadline, the organization was happier to lose games than win.
But the most telling, and often notable, step back was the team's overall defense. Morgan Rielly, Brandon Carlo, and several other defenders struggled to defend the rush, move the puck in their own end, and ultimately keep the puck out of their net.
While Tanev may not change that entirely, he'll without a doubt play a factor. Whether he’s paired with Rielly in a balanced offense-defense approach, or with Jake McCabe in a shutdown pairing, Tanev is a selfless player who elevates his partner by playing to their strength.
Rielly and Tanev posted strong results in 156 minutes during the 2024-25 season; according to MoneyPuck.com, they posted the best expected goals percentage among the Maple Leafs' defense pairings.
His return will also lower ice time totals for others who may have been playing too much. Darren Raddysh will help with that too, but without a true superstar No. 1 defender, the Maple Leafs need to distribute ice time fairly evenly rather than relying on one player to carry the load.
Tanev's return doesn't guarantee the Maple Leafs are back to their best and competing with the juggernauts in the Eastern Conference, but he is among the factors that could make them a competitive team again.
"I feel really confident that his injuries are in a good place," GM John Chayka said. "He's as healthy as anybody."
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