After Maple Leafs Place Chris Tanev On Injured Reserve, Jim Hiller Vague On Timeline And Details As Blue Line Scrambles

HEBER CITY, Utah — One day after the Toronto Maple Leafs placed defenseman Chris Tanev on injured reserve, head coach Jim Hiller offered little clarity Monday on how long the veteran might be sidelined.

“No, no, not a great sense of that,” Hiller said after the club’s practice at the Black Rock Mountain Resort. “Just set him there for now and see where it goes.”

Hiller declined to specify the nature of the injury. 

“I’m not going to get into any of that.”

Tanev is required to miss the next three Leafs games, sitting out a minimum of seven days retroactive to when he last played. Tanev departed Saturday's game in the first period of the club’s 6-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche with what the club described as an upper-body injury.

Tanev’s absence returns a familiar challenge for a blue line that struggled without his minutes and defensive reliability last season. Hiller pointed to the group’s response in Saturday’s win over the Colorado Avalanche as an early positive sign.

“They fought like crazy on Saturday night,” he said. “A guy like (Jake) McCabe, who’s his partner typically, has to play all those minutes. I thought he did an unbelievable job in his absence. There were others, you know, (Nick Blankenburg) coming in. So it’s by committee when a guy like that goes out for a time, you just do it by committee. But the guys responded well.”

Morgan Rielly acknowledged the void while stressing the need for others to elevate.

“Yeah, he’s obviously a big part of our group and our back end. So we’ll wait to hear more. But ultimately, when anybody goes out of the lineup, players have to step up and try to fill that void.”

Auston Matthews offered a similar assessment, noting the importance of help from the forward group.

“I think it’s just guys stepping up, kind of just filling that void a little bit. Obviously [Tanev] is a huge, huge part of our back end and brings a lot of great intangibles and plays a lot of tough minutes against top lines. But I think it’s just a group effort for everybody to elevate, not just on the back end, but up front too, helping out our D as much as we can and just making it easier on them.”

John Tavares, back with the team after the birth of his fourth child, spoke to the respect teammates have for Tanev’s work to return last season.

“I know how hard he’s worked over the last year and a half and all the things he’s been through. He’ll continue to give himself the best chance he can and always puts himself on the line for the team… So hopefully things, you know, as he gets evaluated and whatnot, that things can turn for him here quick and be back with us soon.”

Hiller indicated Oliver Ekman-Larsson should be available after a maintenance day Monday. With Tanev out, the Leafs will continue testing combinations, including a potential Rielly-Troy Stecher pairing that Hiller described as a more traditional offensive-defensive look.

Marshall Rifai was recalled as the next man up. Hiller cited a strong training camp and positive feedback from John Gruden, who had coached Rifai previously.

“We saw the energy. We saw him get involved physically. You know, the fight is the one we all remember, stepping up for a teammate. And we thought he just played really well. So he’s earned that, and it’s great to have him here.”

Rifai is likely to slot as an extra defender as he just bides his time. 

For now, the timeline remains uncertain, and the burden falls on the remaining group to manage the minutes by committee.

See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.