The Toronto Maple Leafs finish up their three-game road swing against the young-and-talented Utah Mammoth on Tuesday night, hoping to earn five of a possible six points. The Leafs lost in Vegas 4-3 in a shootout last Thursday, and bounced back with a 6-3 win over Colorado on Saturday, without center John Tavares in the lineup.
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Toronto gets Tavares back from paternity leave against the Mammoth, but will be without veteran defenseman Chris Tanev for at least the next seven days. Tanev collided with Avs forward Arturi Lehkonen in the first period and did not return. The Leafs were fortunate that they dressed seven defensemen and had three full pairings after Tanev’s departure, but now they will be without the shutdown defender for at least the next three games.
The concern is that the collision seemed to be not forceful, and reflective of some brittleness on the part of the 36-year-old, but that is something that should have been anticipated by Leafs GM John Chayka. The addition of Nick Blankenburg gives Toronto three righty defenders, but with two of them of diminutive stature in Blankenburg and Troy Stecher. The loss forces one of them to move into the top four, and puts more of a burden on Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Darren Raddysh.
The club does not have an answer in the American Hockey League. Marshall Rifai was recalled on Monday and did have a good training camp, but he is at best a bottom-pairing option. Youngsters like Ben Danford and Noah Chadwick are not ready for full-time NHL duty, and Philippe Myers is simply awful. Just over two weeks into the regular season, very few NHL clubs are trading blueliners, and those unsigned RFA’s like Simon Edvinsson or Alexander Nikishin are well outside of the Leafs price range after trading Matthew Knies.
The club may have to keep their head above water until Tanev returns and has to hope it is not a lengthy absence, but may need to scour the waiver wire or seek out available defenders if it is a long-term injury.
Anthony Stolarz is expected to get the start for the Leafs, giving Sergei Bobrovsky four full days of rest before Toronto returns to Scotiabank Arena to take on the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (3-2-1 – 7 POINTS) vs. UTAH MAMMOTH (4-2-0 – 8 POINTS)
OCTOBER 13, 2026 ▪ 9:00 PM EST ▪ DELTA CENTER (SALT LAKE CITY, UT)
TV: TSN ▪ RADIO: TSN 1050
TORONTO HISTORY vs. UTAH
| All-Time Record: | 3-1-0 (Four Games) |
| All-Time Road Record: | 1-1-0 (Two Games) |
| 2025-26: | 1-1-0 (Two Games) |
| Last Five: | 3-1-0 |
| Last 10: | 3-1-0 |
| First Matchup Between Clubs: | November 24, 2024 (Toronto 3 vs. Utah 2) |
| All-Time Record: | 3-1-0 |
| All-Time Home Record: | 2-0-0 |
| All-Time Road Record: | 1-1-0 |
| Last Road Win vs. Opponent: | March 10, 2025 (Toronto 4 at Utah – SOW) |
MAPLE LEAFS / MAMMOTH – 2026-27 TEAM STATS
| UTAH | TORONTO | |
| Goals For Per Game: | 3.67 (5th-T) | 3.33 (11th-T) |
| Goals Against Per Game: | 2.5 (10th) | 2.83 (17th-T) |
| Power Play %: | 40.0 (1st) | 26.3 (7th-T) |
| Penalty Kill %: | 77.3 (20th-T) | 95 (1st) |
| Shots For Per Game: | 31.8 (6th) | 27.8 (13th) |
| Shots Against Per Game: | 22.5 (4th) | 30.2 (28th) |
| Faceoff %: | 53.2 (6th) | 51.9 (10th) |
| (NHL rank in parenthesis) | ||
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