The Toronto Maple Leafs have brought in Nick Blankenburg on a PTO, according to Kevin Paul Dupont of The Boston Globe. The 28-year-old defenseman will be joining the Maple Leafs for training camp this coming week.
Dupont listed NHL PTOs around the league, including Tyson Jost with the Nashville Predators, Chris Dreidger with the Vancouver Canucks, Alex Nylander with the Calgary Flames, and Cal Peterson with the Washington Capitals.
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In that list, he included Blankenburg as a PTO assignment with the Maple Leafs.
“Undersized defenseman, ex- of UMichigan,” Dupont wrote. “Small, but mobile, an insurance play by new GM John Chayka, looking for options if Chris Tanev still needs time to recover from March surgery to fix a core injury.”
Blankenburg is coming off a season split between the Predators and the Colorado Avalanche. In total, the undrafted D-man played 176 NHL regular-season games across parts of five seasons.
Last year, in his second season in Nashville before getting traded to Colorado around the trade deadline, Blankenburg featured in 49 games for the Preds, followed by 12 appearances for the Avs.
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In total, he registered eight goals and 24 points in 2025-26, which marked a career-high on both fronts for the 5-foot-9 blueliner.
He also made his Stanley Cup playoffs debut with Colorado, playing five games and scoring one goal while averaging 9:25 of ice time per game.
Aside from two seasons with the Predators and a short stint with the Avalanche, his first three years in the league, beginning with a seven-game stint in 2021-22, were with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
And though he didn’t get much ice time with the Avalanche, that doesn’t tell the whole story. Aside from his stint in Denver, he averaged 18:40 of ice time per outing, which is typical of a bottom-four pairing defenseman.
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To Dupont’s point, indeed there is a sliver of uncertainty surrounding Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev’s health. Tanev says that he feels “quite good,” but he still needs the green light and confirmation from doctors in the coming days.
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Report: Chris Tanev Waiting To Be Cleared By Doctors, Plans To Be On Ice First Day Of Maple Leafs CampWhile Tanev aims to be ready for the opening day of camp, Tanev described his rehab from surgery in March as “slow”. The veteran defender has to show that the injury issues of last year are fully in the rearview mirror.
A contract for Blankenburg is anything but certain. Even if Tanev still needs some more time recovering, Toronto still has Troy Stecher and Emil Andrae ready to go as depth defensemen to fill in.
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Also, any team in the NHL is eligible to sign Blankenburg to a contract, as he is a UFA, even though he’s joining the Maple Leafs for camp.
Blankenburg’s last contract was a two-year agreement at $775,000 per year.
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