Maple Leafs Player Eyed as Replacement for Injured Canadian Star at 4 Nations Face-off

After dropping out of the 4 Nations Face-Off due to focusing on his health and the remainder of the regular season, Vegas Golden Knights and Team Canada defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has left the Canadians short-handed with only a couple weeks to go until the tournament starts.

Several names have been bandied around as a perfect replacement for Pietrangelo and among those names lies one Toronto Maple Leaf who realistically should have been there in the first place.

Per Toronto Sun reporter Steve Simmons, Tanev joins Brandon Montour, Drew Doughty, and Mackenzie Weegar as potential replacements for Pietrangelo and while they all make solid cases, Tanev's experience and leadership (and healthiness) should make him the replacement.

He's already come in this season and basically transformed Toronto's defensive mentality and while a lot of credit needs to be given to Craig Berube and Lane Lambert, there's no denying his presence has improved the blueline.

His pairing with Jake McCabe has been one of the best in the league, and he's been such a positive influence on the defender that McCabe has taken the responsibility of holding down the first line with Morgan Rielly; who desperately needs defensive help.

Team Canada is going to have no shortage of offensive superstars at their disposal with Cale Makar, Devon Toews, and Josh Morrissey. Losing out on Pietrangelo means a loss of shot-blocking and intimidation which is something Tanev can help with.

As for the other contenders, Doughty hasn't played since fracturing his ankle in the preseason and is just coming back, and while he is a legend in international play, LA can't risk him getting hurt and losing him for the entire season.

Weegar is a fantastic choice to add more offensive punch to the red and white, and would provide the shot-blocking and hitting needed.

But his lack of experience especially in clutch situations compared to Tanev who has won World Championship gold already and who was crucial in preventing Team USA from scoring a key game-tying goal in the semi-finals.

Montour would be a sparkplug and offer Canada both a bit of offense and defense though he doesn't offer elite skills on either side.

He would be serviceable as a replacement but compared to the other names being considered, he's at the lower-end.

But that's not to say he's not good, and had a fantastic last three years with Florida, however is on a struggling Seattle team who could themselves look much different in a few weeks.

There are many players who could fit in for Alex Pietrangelo and do a formidable job. Though if Canada wants to win, they would best suit themselves to add a brick wall named Chris Tanev to their blueline to keep their chances strong.