It has been an ugly 2025-26 season for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it is only getting worse as it continues. With their 3-2 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, the Maple Leafs have now extended their losing streak to four games. With this, their playoff hopes are continuing to decline.
Given how poorly this season has gone for the Maple Leafs, there is a clear expectation that they will be sellers. It is understandable, as they are eight points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. With this, Toronto would be smart to trade some of their pending unrestricted free agents (UFA) for draft picks or prospects.
One reason for the Maple Leafs’ frustrating 2025-26 season has been the injury bug. They have been without their top defensive defenseman, Chris Tanev, since December, and he has played in just 11 games this season. This is because he was also out of action from early November to late December before being sidelined again.
Now, the Maple Leafs have provided a new injury update on Tanev, and it is undoubtedly an unfortunate one for the 36-year-old defenseman.
Maple Leafs Confirm Tanev Is Out for the Rest of the Season
The Maple Leafs announced on Wednesday morning that Tanev has undergone core muscle surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season. However, the Maple Leafs also noted that Tanev is expected to be a full participant at the Maple Leafs’ training camp in September.
With this news, Toronto will officially be without one of their top blueliners for the remainder of the season. While they will continue to miss him as he is sidelined, it also makes sense that Tanev has elected to get surgery at this point in the campaign. Now that the Maple Leafs’ playoff hopes are continuing to decrease, it makes sense that the veteran defenseman is focusing on his recovery and being ready for next season.
However, this is still tough news for Tanev, as the 2025-26 season was essentially a lost season for him. The veteran defenseman played in just 11 games this campaign with Toronto, where he had zero goals, two assists, 15 blocks, and a plus-8 rating. This is after he had three goals, 15 assists, 18 points, and a plus-31 rating in 75 games this past season for the Original Six club.
Tanev Being Done for the Season Is Another Reason Maple Leafs Should Be Sellers
With Tanev done for the season, this is only another reason why the Maple Leafs should decide to be sellers at the trade deadline. Trying to get back into the playoff race without an important blueliner like Tanev will be tough for Toronto.
The Maple Leafs are entering the deadline with several trade candidates. Among them include Bobby McMann, Nicolas Roy, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brandon Carlo, Scott Laughton, and Simon Benoit. With this, Toronto could be a very busy team leading up to the trade deadline, and it will be interesting to see what kind of moves they make from here.
Maple Leafs $27 Million Defenseman Done for Season