After nearly two months, the Toronto Maple Leafs are returning a solid defenseman to the lineup. The Maple Leafs announced that they’ve activated defenseman Chris Tanev from the long-term injured reserve.
It was the second stint on the sidelines for Tanev this season. On October 21st, the 36-year-old blueliner suffered a concussion, but returned relatively soon after on November 1st. Unfortunately, in that game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Tanev suffered a scary-looking injury after taking a hit from Matvei Michkov. After spending the night in the hospital, Tanev has been on the LTIR ever since.
He’s only skated in eight games this season for the Maple Leafs despite the pair of injuries. He’s been relatively solid in those appearances, registering two assists and a +5 rating while averaging 17:20 of ice time. Still, it’s not enough of a sample size to judge whether or not Toronto will get the same version of Tanev they got last season.
Throughout the 2024-25 campaign, his first with the team after signing a six-year, $27MM contract, Tanev was arguably the Maple Leafs’ top defenseman. He scored three goals and 18 points in 75 games with an impressive +31 rating. His 189 blocked shots were first on the team by a significant margin, and his 92.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength was second among defensemen behind Simon Benoit.
Toronto could use his services now more than ever. Despite having a sixth-ranked penalty kill, the Maple Leafs are 25th in the league in GA/G and 28th in shots against per game. Some of this can be blamed on the numerous goaltending injuries the team has faced this season, but Tanev could at least provide more stability from the back end.
Regardless, this won’t be the only transaction coming for Toronto before their game against the Pittsburgh Penguins today. Now that Tanev is back in the fold, the Maple Leafs have 24 players on the active roster, meaning one player will have to get moved back to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies or placed on the injured reserve. Without any new injuries, the likeliest reassignment candidate is blue liner Henry Thrun, who remains several games away from becoming waiver eligible.