The Toronto Maple Leafs and John Chayka have confirmed that Chris Tanev's injury while scary, may not facilitate the type of panic necessary to make a trade.
With the Maple Leafs dealing with an injury to Chris Tanev, and questions about Oliver Ekman-Larsson's health, the injury bug is already hitting the team hard early on in the season and have made a move to bring up Marshall Rifai to give them some extra insurance.
But with Tanev's injury still a mystery and concerns that he may not be back to full health this season, it feels like the team is setting up to make another blockbuster much like they did with the Kirill Marchenko, and they have certainly enough assets to offer another trade.
Toronto standing firm on a Chris Tanev replacement
Though it seems like the team is going to stick with the internal route given that Tanev's injury isn't as bad as initially thought - we hope.
According to Elliotte Friedman, the Maple Leafs believe the length of Tanev's injury isn't as concerning, and making a deal now is a move they don't want to make unless they absolutely have to:
I think they're going to stand pad through for now. I asked around: have they been poking around for D with Tanev out for at least a week and people said no. They seem to say they're going to stick with it for a little bit here.
It makes sense why the team wouldn't jump to make a move, as they have internal options like Rifai as well as Nick Blankenburg who can slide in to take the open spot. If it's only a week, then it's much easier for the team to monitor and figure out if a deal is necessary but for now, they're running with who they have.
Do the Maple Leafs need to make a trade regardless?
Well with Tanev's injury not being as serious as initially thought, the team isn't too concerned that they need to jump on a deal right now but that doesn't mean they shouldn't keep it in mind.
Tanev is such a wild card when it comes to his health, and we just have to monitor how he's going to feel coming back. He came back from an injury last year only to get hurt the same night and be out long-term. Toronto can't risk that, so they may need to be safer with their defender.
Being safer means adding more insurance, and one name that keeps popping up is Simon Edvinsson. Is that too expensive a price to pay just to replace Tanev? Maybe, but he has several years left and this may be a continuing trend and Toronto has to get on that now so they aren't scrambling later.
The decision not to trade for Tanev's replacement isn't a bad one, but it does give John Chayka and the Maple Leafs something to think about if their veteran is going to be out longer than a week.
Do you think the Maple Leafs should make a trade to replace Chris Tanev?
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