The Toronto Maple Leafs may have dodged a bullet with defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Ekman-Larsson got injured during the third period of Thursday night’s loss against the Sharks. The Leafs have had no shortage of injuries this season, with shutdown defenceman Brandon Carlo and Chris Tanev both injured. The Swedish native injury appeared to be very serious. However, as we are here to say, the Leafs may have dodged a bullet.
The news appears to be better than expected for OEL. See how he feels in the morning but, the veteran Dman may test his injury tomorrow and if he feels he can play, he will. Surprising considering the pain he was in when he left last nights game.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 12, 2025
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Severity of the Injury
According to Darren Dreger, OEL may play in tonight’s game against the Oilers, depending on how he feels in the morning. The thirty-four-year-old has had a great season with the Maple Leafs, filling in on the top pair with Morgan Rielly. Ekman-Larsson has been Toronto’s most reliable defenceman this season. He has been a standout player. When the defence core was struggling, Berube would often rely on OEL to take on heavy minutes. In 30 games this season, he has registered four goals and sixteen assists for 20 points. If the Leafs were to lose Ekman-Larsson for a period of time, it would be a big blow. The Leafs would need a depth defenceman to play crucial minutes against teams’ best players.
Hopefully, he is ready to play in tomorrow night’s contest against the Oilers. If he is not ready to go, Morgan Rielly and Jake McCabe will likely be the team’s top pair. Troy Strecher has been a great addition to the Maple Leafs after being picked up on waivers. He has been the most beneficial pickup by general manager Brad Treliving over the course of the start of the season and the off-season. The Leafs will also need him to continue playing at the level he’s shown. We could also see Philippe Myers back into the lineup, as well Henry Thrun stay in the lineup for Saturday’s game.
Mystery Behind Tanev and Carlo
There has seemed to be a mystery behind the Maple Leafs injury to Chris Tanev. It was recently revealed that Brandon Carlo had foot surgery and is listed week-to-week. Carlo hasn’t played since November 13th against the Los Angeles Kings. The Leafs acquired Carlo during last years’ trade deadline from the Boston Bruins in exchange for Fraser Minten and a 2026 first-round pick. At the time this deal felt like a huge win for the Maple Leafs, but he struggled to fit in early and this recent injury looks to set him back some more. On December 3rd, Craig Berube confirmed that he underwent surgery. In contrast, we still don’t know the cause of the injury.
Chris Tanev returned to full Leafs practice early in the week. Fans began to feel optimistic, however the injury has made another turn. Craig Berube finally spoke more about the injury, mentioning that “He’s getting a second opinion, which we’ll get here soon, hopefully, and then we’ll go from there.” The status of the injury has not been confirmed, and we can assume that the results were not inconclusive or what the Leafs wanted to see. The Maple Leafs don’t believe surgery will be needed. However, there was a conversation about going down that road.
If Tanev and Carlo continue to miss long periods of time for the Maple Leafs, it could prove to be costly. The Leafs have survived as of late, but missing over half the season will not work in the Leafs’ favour. The Maple Leafs will play in an all-Canadian clash on Hockey Night in Canada against the Edmonton Oilers tonight.
Main Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The post Toronto Maple Leafs Defenceman Dodges Bullet appeared first on Last Word On Hockey.