Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller isn’t sounding the alarm on his defensive corps just yet.
The Leafs announced Thursday that Chris Tanev is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, reducing Toronto’s defensive depth. Hiller said he was comfortable with the remaining defenceman on his active roster, but he’ll need the Maple Leafs forwards to contribute, too.
“Tanev’s a good player; that’s well established, but we have other good players,” said Hiller following Thursday’s morning skate before the Leafs hosted the Buffalo Sabres. “We just have to help them out a little bit.”
Tanev was initially placed on injured reserve Monday, with the move retroactive to Saturday.
The 36-year-old defenceman was hurt in Toronto’s 6-3 road win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Tanev skated in five shifts in the first period before leaving the game.
“What I was disappointed about a little bit on the trip is I thought we hung our defencemen out to dry just a little bit as a group of forwards with some turnovers, with some tracking,” said Hiller. “I think prior to going out, I thought we really were supporting our defence, getting back hard, not giving up odd-man rushes, and then it was a little bit of the opposite on that road trip.
“You’ve got to help your defence. I don’t care who’s in. That, to me, is a little bit more on our forwards.”
Tanev hospitalized after collision in Maple Leafs win over Flyers
The oft-injured Tanev was limited to 11 games last season due to spine and groin injuries as well as a concussion. He has one assist in six games this season. He has 36 goals, 175 assists and is plus-162 in 884 career NHL games, including previous stops in Vancouver, Calgary and Dallas.
Hiller was asked if the Maple Leafs are looking to add a defenceman to their roster with Tanev out for the foreseeable future.
“Not my job, first of all,” said Hiller. “I think there’s always a lot of noise about something, so I’m not going to pay too much attention to it right now.”
Toronto and Buffalo entered Tuesday’s contest with identical 3-3-1 records.
