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Chris Tanev raves about Mike Gillis as Leafs GM opening looms: ‘He built some really good teams’
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Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Michael Coyle
Apr 17, 2026, 06:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 16, 2026, 19:08 EDT
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The Toronto Maple Leafs’ 2025-26 season didn’t go as anyone around the club had hoped or planned, as the club struggled to a 32-36-14 record and dealt with a myriad of injuries. 
One of the players who was struck by the injury bug this year was defenceman Chris Tanev, who was limited to only 11 games during his second season with the Maple Leafs. In early March, it was announced that Tanev would undergo core muscle surgery, which ultimately ended his season. The 16-year NHL veteran is expected to be ready for training camp when it opens in September. 
Tanev’s presence was surely missed this season in the Maple Leafs’ own zone as the club was routinely out shot and had a -46 goal differential, by far the worst mark in the Eastern Conference, and the fourth worst in the NHL. At his year-end media scrum, Tanev spoke about what this season was like for him, having to spend most of it watching from the press box. 
“It was awful. To only play 11 games, it’s not good. It definitely sucks, and obviously, watching wasn’t great, as well as we did not do what we needed to,” Tanev said. 
As for what Tanev believed led to this season’s demise, the 36-year-old was quick to point out that things are a little different when you are watching rather than playing, but there were certainly things he felt that could have been better. 
“It’s easy to watch the game when you are up there. Everyone thinks they’re Wayne Gretzky. The game is so much slower from the press box, so it’s tough for me to critique when I only played 11 games,” Tanev said. “I think we needed to execute the systems better, and play with some more pace. Depending on who you ask, there could be 20 different things. When things don’t go as planned, there’s always things that need to be addressed, and whoever comes in at the top is going to need to look at what the important issues are and try to fix them.” 
As for who could come in to lead the Maple Leafs next season, a handful of names have been thrown around as potential suitors to be the next head of hockey operations. One of them is former Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis, who was the GM for Tanev’s first four seasons in the NHL. Tanev touched on what it was like playing under Gillis. 
“I have a ton of respect for Mike. He’s very intense. Definitely there’s no non-sense,” Tanev said. “I think he’s knowledgeable, he was great to me in Vancouver, and I think he built some really good teams there.” 
Looking forward to next season, many fans of the club and people within the organization have expressed the hope that the Maple Leafs can retool and prove that this season was just an aberration after nine straight playoff campaigns. Tanev echoed the same sentiment that, with the group of players in the locker room, the team can see more success in 2026-27. 
“I think we have a ton of good players in here. Obviously, we didn’t have a very good season at all, and I’m not going to make excuses with injuries, but we had some guys that didn’t play a lot of the year,” Tanev said. “I think we can learn from this year and understand the importance of having a good start to the season, not falling behind the eight ball.”

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