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Leafs D Chris Tanev's Comments Cast a Shroud of Mystery Over His Actual Health Status

Originally posted on Maple Leafs Daily | By Dean Chaudhry | Last updated Mar 12, 2025 3:11 PM ET

Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev opened up about his injury but his comments don't give us much optimism about a return any time soon.

Chris Tanev has been out of the lineup since the 25th of February after he was forced to exit the game with just 49 seconds of ice-time under his belt due to an upper body injury.

He's missed the last 6 games but based on his recent comments, a return to the lineup doesn't seem to be in the cards for Tanev on Thursday night and beyond.

The Toronto Maple Leafs returned home after a 4-game road-trip that saw them drop 3 of the 4 contests with their only win coming after they blew a 3-goal lead to Utah.

The absence of Tanev has been felt all throughout the lineup and with the Florida Panthers in town tomorrow, it looks like another absence is coming.

Toronto Sun's Lance Hornby tweeted that it is highly unlikely that Tanev dresses but more importantly the defenseman would only comment that he is following a medical staff timeline. To add to the mystery, head coach Craig Berube added that while he may be 'close' he wouldn't comment any further.

Hockey teams don't generally disclose injury information at will and like to generalize things with either lower body, upper body, or undisclosed.

The Maple Leafs are taking it up a notch with a 'medical staff timeline' but at the very least he's sticking to it and doesn't want to rush back and a re-aggravate the injury.

The 35-year-old is in the first year of a 6-year contract and based on how his season has gone, it's signed to a team friendly cap hit of $4.5 million dollars.

Tanev has added 2 goals and 17 points, a plus-26 rating, 18 PIMs, 151 blocked shots, and 19:48 ATOI. More importantly, he's stabilized the back-end and has allowed the Maple Leafs to split him and Morgan Rielly up to form a solid top-4.

His absence has been and will continue to be felt but Rielly, Jake McCabe, and recently acquired Brandon Carlo will have to continue to shoulder the load especially with a tricky part of the schedule upcoming, which includes a 4-game home-stand against the likes of Florida, Ottawa, Calgary, and Colorado.

This article first appeared on Maple Leafs Daily and was syndicated with permission.

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