Maple Leafs Defenseman Chris Tanev Won't Return To Game Against Avalanche

The Toronto Maple Leafs are forced to finish their game against the Colorado Avalanche without defenseman Chris Tanev. The team announced he wouldn't return to the game as the second period was starting because he had suffered an upper-body injury.

Tanev only took five shifts, playing 3:29 of ice time in this game. Before the announcement that the defenseman was not returning to the game, he hadn't taken a shift since the 11:08 mark in the first period.

Sportsnet's broadcast highlighted a particular moment that appeared to cause the upper-body injury to Tanev. He and Artturi Lehkonen had a slight collision in front of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky as they raced to a loose puck.

Because Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller elected to deploy a lineup with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, they trickle down to the traditional six blueliners, meaning they didn't go through the rest of the contest with one less defenseman, in theory.

That allowed Nick Blankenburg to make his debut with the Leafs, and he ended up scoring his first goal with the team on his first shift. With the extra right-handed defenseman in the lineup in Blankenburg, the loss of Tanev is suppressed in some way for the rest of the game.

Tanev is coming off a very short season in 2025-26 after dealing with multiple injuries. He only played 11 games, with spinal trauma and core muscle surgery keeping him sidelined for nearly the entire campaign.

This was the 36-year-old's sixth game of the campaign. Before Saturday's matchup against the Avalanche, Tanev averaged 19:31 per game, recorded an assist and accumulated a plus-two rating along the way.

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