Toronto Maple Leafs Confirm the Worst for defenseman Chris Tanev

Chris Tanev suffered an upper-body injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs a couple of weeks ago and he has yet to return to the lineup.

Once again, it has become another example of the Leafs claiming an injury isn't severe, only for it to drag on for days and even weeks at a time.

The Maple Leafs have a crucial game against the Florida Panthers on Thursday and there is no doubt that it would be helpful to have a player like Tanev in the lineup.

Unfortunately for Toronto, that is not going to happen as it was reported by David Alter of The Hockey News that defenseman was not in the lineup during practice today.

Instead, Chris Tanev was the seventh defenseman, which means he very likely won't be ready to play on Thursday. Concerning, to say the least.

At this point, one has to wonder what is really going on with Chris Tanev and whether or not the Maple Leafs can make it through this next stretch.

Without their star defenseman, beating teams like the Florida Panthers will be incredibly difficult.

Not to mention, fans just want a bit of clarity on what is going on, something that the Leafs have just not been providing.

Hopefully, this will be the last game that Tanev is out for although given how things have progressed, that seems somewhat unlikely.

As many fans are aware, the team is in the midst of an Atlantic Division battle for the top spot and the Panthers, as well as the Tampa Bay Lightning are in a position to win big. A win tonight against Florida could turn the tide but when down some players, it becomes that much more difficult.