Chris Tanev out vs. Avalanche with upper-body injury

Toronto was already playing without John Tavares. Then the update came out in the 2nd period.

Mark Masters

@markhmasters

Leafs announce Chris Tanev will not return to the game due to an upper-body injury @TSN_Sports

Tanev played 5 shifts in the 1st and finished at minus-1 before he disappeared. He never came out for the 2nd period. The broadcast pointed to a collision with Artturi Lehkonen as the 2 of them raced for a loose puck in front of the Leafs net, and that looks like the moment it happened. 'Upper body' is about as vague as injury wording gets, so for now nobody outside the room knows if this is a night or a month.

The reason the beat guys sounded worried right away is history. Tanev is 36 and in his 17th NHL season, and he's built a whole career out of blocking pucks with his body. Last season he dealt with spinal trauma and core muscle surgery, which held him to 11 games. Saturday was only his 6th game of the new season. He'd been averaging 19:31 a night with 1 assist and was a plus-2 before this one.

Terry Koshan 🇺🇦

@koshtorontosun

Worst-case scenario for the #Leafs.

Leafs PR@LeafsPR

Maple Leafs D Chris Tanev will not return to tonight’s game due to injury (upper body).

Terry Koshan didn't need more than 4 words, and he's right. Tanev is Toronto's shutdown guy, the one who soaks up the ugly minutes so everybody else gets to play the fun ones. He's in his 3rd season with the Leafs after stops in Vancouver, Calgary and Dallas, and he was brought in for exactly this kind of game against a team like Colorado. Losing him early means the rest of the D has to cover his minutes, against one of the most dangerous offenses in the league, on a night the forward group is already short.

That forward group got shuffled too. With Tavares out, the Leafs moved their top rookie up.

Mark Masters

@markhmasters

With John Tavares out tonight, Gavin McKenna joins Leafs top PP unit @BarDown

Gavin McKenna getting run on PP1 is the fun part of the night. The kid has been producing early, and a spot on the top unit is a real vote of confidence. It also tells you how thin Toronto is getting. When your veteran 2nd-line center is out and your best defensive defenseman leaves in the 1st period, you're asking teenagers and depth guys to carry minutes that were never meant for them.

What to watch next: whether the Leafs put Tanev on injured reserve or call him day-to-day after the game, and who they bring up to cover for him. With his injury history, anything beyond a short absence would make this the worst-case scenario Koshan was talking about, only a month into the season.