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Maple Leafs coach elusive on Chris Tanev injury details

'We've set him (on IR) and see where it goes,' says Jim Hiller

Published Oct 12, 2026  •  Last updated 1 day ago  •  3 minute read

Maple Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev looks on prior to the first period against the New York Islanders at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Sept. 30, 2026. Photo by Chris Tanouye /Getty Images

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If there’s any consolation for the Maple Leafs about losing defenceman Chris Tanev, it was sealing a win in his absence and the belief that reinforcements can hold the fort this week.

Head coach Jim Hiller, who is quickly showing his ultra-secretive side where injured players are concerned, would not comment Monday on the nature of Tanev’s upper-body  mishap in Saturday’s game, nor put a timeline on his return. The club did place him on injured reserve retroactive to Saturday, meaning at least Tuesday’s game in Salt Lake City and home dates versus Buffalo and the Islanders are out of the question. The club had Nick Blankenburg as an extra on the three-game road trip and called up Marshall Rifai from the Marlies on Sunday.

“We’ve set him (on IR) and see where it goes,” Hiller told media in Utah on Monday, adding that Tanev remains with the team for its flight home Wednesday morning.

There was a risk that at age 36 and given his full-steam approach that Tanev would leave himself vulnerable to more of last year’s issues, a concussion and other wear and tear factors that led to late-season core muscle surgery and a long recovery. He and regular partner Jake McCabe looked their old selves in the first five games before Tanev went down early in Saturday in Colorado.

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But Hiller and the team liked how the Leafs came back in a 6-3 triumph, particularly killing penalties.

“They fought like crazy,” Hiller said. “A guy like McCabe typically has to play all those minutes and did an unbelievable job in his absence. There were others. We had Blanky come in (the seventh defenceman that night in a fortuitous lineup decision) so it’s by committee when a guy like that goes out for a time. The guys responded well.”

At Monday’s practice, Morgan Rielly and Darren Raddysh were separated so McCabe could skate with Raddysh and Rielly with Troy Stecher. The pairings won’t be confirmed until game time since Oliver Ekman-Larsson was excused from Monday’s practice for a maintenance day.

Tanev, who had gone right back to his physical, shot-blocking specialties, took a routine hit from Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen and went to the bench in pain. To date, he’s collected one assist and blocked 14 shots to rank 12th in the NHL as of Monday.

“He’s a heart-and-soul guy,” Toronto captain Auston Matthews told media  in Denver. “He plays a big role in our back end, a shutdown guy, so you’re hoping it’s nothing serious and that he’ll be alright. But we’ll see.”

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Rifai suffered a wrist injury that required surgery in a Leafs pre-season game a year ago on the cusp of making the club as a reserve defender. He got back for one NHL game at the end of the season, but became a huge part of the farm team’s Calder Cup championship.

After three games with the Marlies this year, he was held out Sunday against Hamilton after the Tanev mishap in Colorado. Hiller admitted to knowing little about the 6-foot-2 Quebec native before hired for the Leaf job this year, but took the counsel of assistant coach John Gruden, who ran the Marlies last year and leaned on Rifai’s experience.

The Leafs are trying to make it five of a possible six points on their Southwestern U.S. trip, which opened with a shootout loss in Las Vegas.

Lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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