Maple Leafs Lose Top Defenseman Due to Injury at a Very Inopportune Time

The Leafs have been rolling since coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break, but an injury to top defender Chris Tanev may put the Maple Leafs in a compromising position with the trade deadline looming.

On Tuesday evening against the Boston Bruins during the 2nd game of a 4-game road trip, the Leafs lost Tanev due to a seemingly routine hit by a Bruins forechecker. After taking the hit, Tanev appeared to be in some discomfort as he made his way to the Leafs' bench.

Unfortunately, coming out of the 1st intermission, Tanev was not on the bench to start the second period, and shortly thereafter, the Maple Leafs' official PR team confirmed on social media that Tanev would not return to the game and is now sidelined with an upper-body injury.

Naturally, it may be a couple of days before we have a more comprehensive update on Tanev and what the full extent of his injury is, but if this one ends up being long-term, it will paint the Leafs into a bit of a corner.

The clear need in Toronto is for a centre who can play in the middle six. The secondary need, according to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta, appears to be a bottom six forward with some grit and snarl. An injury to Tanev, though (depending on the extent of the injury), may necessitate a move for a top-4 defenseman.

There's been some smoke of late that the Leafs could potentially acquire both Schenn brothers, Brayden and Luke, which would certainly help the Leafs on the right side if Tanev does indeed miss considerable time.

Time will tell how the organization handles this latest bump in the road, but I'd imagine that the Leafs won't pull the trigger on a deal until they know what they're looking at with Tanev.