Maple Leafs make an announcement involving Chris Tanev

The Maple Leafs made it official for Chris Tanev as they activated him off the IR in anticipation for his return to the lineup Saturday against Vancouver.

As Toronto looks to finish off their road trip on a high note, they are going to need to take on the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. The team is coming off two straight losses including a tough last-minute loss to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.

Two days off and a chance to reset should give the Maple Leafs a better start to this game, though you can't take the Canucks for granted - and Toronto hasn't had a lot of success playing there as of late.

Maple Leafs bring back Tanev and activate him off the IR

However they are going to get some real reinforcements back on the blue line as the team is expected to have Chris Tanev back after being out a few weeks. He'll help shore things up and make things a little easier - and the team just made his return official.

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Toronto activated Tanev off the IR on Saturday and barring any extreme circumstances is expected to slot in to the lineup alongside Morgan Rielly on the second pair.

Tanev, 36, has only appeared in six games this season with one assist and 14 blocks. He's the glue that holds the defensive group together and without him, the team hasn't exactly had the easiest time in their own end.

Luckily, Rielly and others like Troy Stecher have stepped up in his absence to help out and perform well however bringing him back into the fold brings a dynamic that the team has been missing as of late.

Another injury could spell the end for Tanev

All credit to Tanev for fighting his way back and not having to deal with yet another season-long injury however there is a giant red flag just waiting to be raised.

This is Tanev's second time that he went down within the first 10 games of the season and ended up missing time. He isn't getting younger, his style of play is only detrimental to his body, and every time he plays it's a big question mark.

At $4.5M per season until 2030, there's a serious chance that Tanev likely won't see his contract out fully. One more injury that keeps him out and it'll be time for the Maple Leafs to seriously consider moving on.

Maybe that means trading him, or buying him out. But if he keeps getting hurt then he may be following in the footsteps of another shutdown defender wracked with injuries - Jake Muzzin.

Which means it's even more important that Tanev proves to everyone that this early season injury was only a scare, and he can stay on the ice for at least a few months.

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