Toronto Maple Leafs forced to make difficult decision concerning Chris Tanev

Chris Tanev is one of the most important players on the Toronto Maple Leafs, and there is really no way to deny this. At the end of the day, he is a shutdown defenseman who keeps pucks away from the goalie.

However, he has had some concussion issues this season, and it has been very difficult for the defenseman to get any consistency going.

He has been out of the lineup for more than a couple of weeks, and it doesn't appear as though he will be returning soon.

Not to mention, the defenseman is taking up cap space, and with the team suffering multiple injuries, the franchise needs cap relief to call up players.

Well, overnight, the Maple Leafs quietly placed Chris Tanev on the long-term injured reserve as a means of freeing up some of that aforementioned cap.

Now, the Leafs have a total of $3.3 million left in LTIR, which is a nice little buffer that is going to help out the team quite a bit going forward.

If you are a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, there is no denying that the absence of Tanev has been pretty devastating so far.

Whether or not Tanev will return soon still remains to be seen. If one thing is for certain, however, it is that this five-game losing streak is making things infinitely worse.

We are very excited to see what the Maple Leafs do tonight against the St. Louis Blues, although fans should not get their hopes up just yet.

The injuries keep coming, and with a depleted roster, you have to wonder what is next for this Maple Leafs team.