Leafs’ Chris Tanev Cleared to Play After Missing Most of 2025-26

Chris Tanev will be back on the Toronto Maple Leafs blueline this season, and general manager John Chayka said that the defenseman was “as healthy as anybody,” while speaking at his team’s media day ahead of 2026 training camp. Tanev, 26, played just 11 games last season due to various ailments, posting just two assists in that time, and last played on Dec. 25, 2025, in an overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators. Now 10 months after that game, he’s ready to take on the 2026-27 season in the third year of a six-year contract which pays him an average…