Chris Tanev week-to-week with upper-body injury for Leafs

Toronto put Tanev on IR earlier this week. On Thursday morning the team gave the timeline a bigger number, and the Leafs beat had it out within a minute.

Mark Masters

@markhmasters

Leafs announce Chris Tanev is now considered “week-to-week” with an upper-body injury @TSN_Sports

The injury happened Saturday against Colorado, and it looked like nothing. Artturi Lehkonen bumped him in the 1st period, a routine hit, and Tanev went to the bench hunched over in pain. He played 5 shifts and 3:29 of ice time before the Leafs ruled him out for the night. If you know anything about Tanev, a guy who blocks shots like he has a spare body at home, you knew it was bad when he didn't go back out.

IR only guaranteed a week. On Monday Jim Hiller said he didn't have a great sense of the timeline and that the team would 'see where it goes.' Week-to-week is the answer to that, and it isn't the one Toronto wanted.

Chris Johnston

@reporterchris

Chris Tanev is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, per the #leafs

What really hurts is the history. Injuries held Tanev to 11 games last season, he had core muscle surgery in March, and he was only cleared for game action on the eve of training camp. He'd made it back and he was playing well: TSN had Toronto giving up 1 goal against with him on the ice through 5 games, and he was a fixture on the No. 1 penalty kill. Auston Matthews called him a 'heart-and-soul' guy. That's not something people say about a 3rd-pair placeholder.

This is his 3rd season in Toronto, after stops in Vancouver, Calgary and Dallas. He signed to be the grown-up on the blue line, the guy who makes the top pair and the PK work without anybody noticing. You notice him when he's gone, and the Leafs are going to notice him for a while.

Terry Koshan 🇺🇦

@koshtorontosun

Tanev on week-to-week basis with upper-body injury, #Leafs confirm.

For now Toronto called up Marshall Rifai from the Marlies, and the coaching staff is talking about covering Tanev's minutes by committee. That's a nice way of saying nobody on the roster does what he does. Keep an eye on the penalty kill over the next couple of weeks. If it slips, that's the Tanev effect. And at 36, coming off a surgery year, the bigger question is whether this is a few weeks or the start of another season spent on the shelf.