The Leafs’ win in Colorado came with a catch, and it’s a big one: Chris Tanev left the game after very little contact, leaving Toronto with more questions than answers about its most important defenceman.
That’s the part that has the Leafs holding off on any firm conclusions. Tanev, 36, has already dealt with a long injury absence before, and the concern is obvious. But the feeling around the club is that it needs more time before putting a real timeline on what happened in Denver on Saturday.
Chris Johnston said Toronto is still gathering information and wants to do more testing before making any declarations.
“the Leafs remain on the road and have been so since Tanev suffered that injury on Saturday in Denver, and they just feel they need a little bit more time here to do due diligence, to run some more tests, and get a feel for exactly what’s going on with Chris Tanev.”
Johnston also noted that last year’s issue took time to sort through, with a spinal cord problem eventually explaining part of Tanev’s lengthy absence. That doesn’t mean this is the same situation, and it doesn’t mean the concussion from last season is back either. Still, there’s enough uncertainty that Toronto isn’t ready to label it one way or the other.
“There is a little bit of optimism on the Tanev front, but they just don’t yet have all the information they need to give an accurate picture of how long he’ll be out.”
The Dylan Larkin noise in Montreal didn’t go anywhere after the chants in the Bell Centre, either. Pierre LeBrun said the Canadiens’ hope that all that public affection might sway the Red Wings captain hasn’t changed the reality just yet.
His list remains at 10 teams, and Montreal is not on it.
That doesn’t mean the Canadiens would sit on the sidelines if the door ever cracked open. LeBrun said they’ve already shown a willingness to go big, pointing to their push for Matthew Knies last March at the deadline and their interest in Marchenko from Columbus. If Larkin ever changed his mind, Montreal would be ready to engage.
But they also aren’t trapped by urgency. Michael Hage is coming at the end of the year, and the Canadiens don’t view this as a situation where they must force a home-run move.
Meanwhile, the Red Wings have another complication to sort through with Simon Edvinsson. Johnston reported that the unsigned defenseman has left Sweden and is on his way back to North America after skating in Gothenburg since training camp ended.
The reason is practical: he wants to work with a trainer in North America that he’s comfortable with. It also gets him closer to the NHL, both geographically and, he hopes, in terms of his game shape.
It’s not necessarily a sign that a contract breakthrough is imminent, but it does carry some encouraging signs. Edvinsson still needs to sign by Dec. 1 to be eligible to play this season.
In New York, the Rangers are trying to deal with the blow of losing Igor Shesterkin, and Darren Dreger made one thing clear: nobody replaces a goalie like that.
There has been talk about Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets, but Dreger said there’s no sense of urgency from the Rangers right now, and they do not want to pay the steep price Hellebuyck would command.
Instead, New York is calling around the league and checking on experienced goaltenders, especially ones with limited term. For now, though, the Rangers are leaning on Dylan Garand, while Joonas Korpisalo is still a few weeks away from being able to return. If the strong start starts slipping away, the urgency could change in a hurry.
And then there’s Philadelphia, where the Flyers’ 0-5-2 start has turned the pressure up on everybody in the building.
LeBrun said Danny Briere is getting plenty of calls from around the league, though not the kind that usually come with good news. There’s no quick fix waiting here, no blockbuster rescue trade to patch over the start. Even the fans chanting, “Fire Rick Tocchet,” isn’t changing the front office’s approach.
The message from management is that this is on the group itself. The Flyers, LeBrun said, see this as a collective letdown from a team of young players who may have taken too much for granted after getting a taste of success last season. For now, the fix has to come from inside.
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