Early update on Chris Tanev after leaving the game on a stretcher.

There was a great deal of concern surrounding the health of veteran National Hockey League defenseman Chris Tanev on Saturday night after Tanev was carted off the ice on a stretcher during a game between his Toronto Maple Leafs and the Philadelphia Flyers.

Tanev was shaken up after a very awkward collision with Flyers star forward Matvei Michkov, a collision that appeared to be entirely accidental. The freak accident would have dire consequences for Tanev however, who appeared seriously injured as a result of the impact.

Mitchkov and Tanev collided while Tanev was skating backwards and Michkov appeared to be looking up the ice, and when the two men came together the contact was so light that you would have expected both men to bounce right back up to their skates. While Michkov seemed unphased however, Tanev lay motionless on the ice for several long moments.

It was Tanev's first game back from a concussion that kept him out of the lineup for several days, and the immediate concern was that Tanev had once again suffered some kind of head trauma. The fact that Tanev was motionless on the ice for so long seems to support that theory, but that is only speculation on my part at this time.

Either way Tanev would be loaded onto a stretcher and carted off the ice leaving a lot of questions about the status of the highly respected NHL defenseman.

Thankfully we do have an update courtesy of head coach Craig Berube who revealed that Tanev was doing well, at least relatively speaking.

"He's getting some more tests done now but he's moving and I think he'll be alright," said Berube. "He's getting some tests done right now so we'll know more in a little while."

Berube would go on to confirm that Tanev had been transported to hospital but did share another bit of positive news when he revealed that Tanev might continue traveling with the team.

"We'll know soon," said Berube. "He might be coming home with us."

It is somewhat of a silver lining for fans who were understandably concerned about Tanev's well being after that scary looking incident, and hopefully the official update that I expect later today will also bring good news.