For the uninitiated, that is Leo Carlsson’s photo, by the way. On Sunday, he was ourth in the league in scoring, with 12 of those 23 points having come in his last five games against the likes of two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida, 2023 Cup champs Vegas (the last three Stanley Cup winners), a perpetual top-5 team in Dallas, and the rising Detroit Red Wings. So, he’s not only beating up on the San Joses of the world.
Add in Sunday night’s game, and Carlsson is now tied with Bedard for second in the NHL with 25 points.
Watching him play, he looks like he’s straight out of create-a-player mode on NHL ’26. Listed at 6’3”, 208 lbs, he looks every bit as tall and a little heavier (in a good way), with a quality first step, great straight-line speed, and above all else, a confidence that he absolutely can take over a game. He’s a GM’s dream, should be an NHL marketer’s dream, and it’s easy to see the next gen rivalries between Carlsson’s Anaheim Ducks and Bedard’s Blackhawks.
What in the name of Turk Broda?
Toronto can’t seem to get a break right now (which, in life and hockey, often happens when you play like you don’t really care). The latest, and by far worst thing to happen this season, is the back-to-back injuries for Chris Tanev.
Tanev, who by most public analytics sites was one of the top few defensive defensemen last season, was ahead of everyone on the roster except Auston Matthews and William Nylander on the players you can’t afford to lose list.
First came the concussion against New Jersey in late October. Then in his first game back, he took an awkward hit from behind from Matvei Michkov. I’ve seen a lot of opinions on this hit. Some made some sense, while others drove me batty. What no one has touched on is the fact that, when you’re not expecting a hit, you haven’t tensed up your body the way players (in hockey, football, a catcher in baseball) do. The result is that you’re somewhat relaxed, and in that relaxed state, taking even an innocent hit from behind is jarring. Watch the play, watch how Tanev’s back and head/neck snap, because his body is so loose.
Regardless of whether he had completely recovered from the concussion less than two weeks before, that kind of shot, the whiplash it causes, you’re going to feel it. While it came out later that the hit did not cause another concussion (which seemed to calm everybody down), you can’t forget the immediate result, which was Tanev leaving the ice in Philadelphia on a stretcher, his neck braced for his own protection.
Could it have been a stinger? Whiplash? By the way, if it later comes out that this was in fact another concussion, it would be far from the first time that a head/neck injury presented as whiplash and eventually was found to be a concussion. Unfortunately for Tanev, the Toronto Maple Leafs organization, and their fans, we may well be entering into Jake Muzzin territory. Tanev, who like Matthews and Nylander is irreplicable in the role he plays, will need to start considering his quality of life outside of hockey. And hell, much more of this and he wouldn’t even pass the physical.
One final note (because I promised the team here that these wouldn’t all be 3000+ word pieces), the Nick Robertson/Alexis Lafreniere comment in an earlier article almost felt like a snippy quip that would quickly see Lafreniere, the 2020 first-overall draft pick, quickly blow out of the water. And yet… (h/t to RotoWire for this as I’m not quite ready to pay for Stathead yet):
