Chris Tanev scratched again as Leafs eye defense upgrade

Load management in November, for a stay-at-home defenseman. The news came out of Thursday's morning skate, and it got the eye-roll it deserved.

Chris Johnston

@reporterchris

Chris Tanev is scratched tonight by the #leafs due to "planned maintenance." Load management strikes again

This is the 2nd time it has happened. Toronto first sat Tanev on November 10 against New Jersey, which was the 2nd night of a back-to-back, so at least there was an excuse. This time there was a full day off between Thursday and Saturday. Tanev has played just 4 games since coming back on October 31 in Vancouver. Before that he missed 9 games with an upper-body injury, and last season ended early with core muscle surgery in March after he played only 11 games.

Tanev doesn't like it, and he hasn't hidden that. He has said publicly that he disagrees with the plan, though he understands why the team is doing it given his injury history. Hiller had already explained it once and clearly didn't feel like doing it again.

Mark Masters

@markhmasters

Jim Hiller on decision to scratch Chris Tanev for load management again tonight: "I'm not going to get into that. I think there's been a lot of talk about that. He'll play Saturday" Tanev's reaction? "I think he knows we have his best interests at heart" t.co/SnceORKQGw

"He knows we have his best interests at heart" is a coach's way of saying the player isn't thrilled. Pierre LeBrun of TSN has reported where the plan comes from: Toronto worked it out with Tanev while he was rehabbing, as a test for his first month back. He wouldn't play back-to-backs, and he would sit 1 other game on top of that. So this isn't a one-off. It's the schedule they set for November, and it lasts until the calendar flips.

The man who benefits is Cole McWard, an undrafted 25-year-old who came into Thursday with 10 NHL games on his résumé. Anthony Stolarz got the start in net. McWard sounded like a guy who knows how quickly this kind of chance can go away.

Mark Masters

@markhmasters

Cole McWard will play 2nd game with Leafs & 11th in NHL tonight; what's opportunity mean? "Everything. You don't get opportunities like this, so just trying to make the most of it" Undrafted 25-year-old inspired by Terry Fox "It makes my life seem easy" t.co/BgShecoxIE

The bigger story is what this says about Toronto's blue line. When your plan for keeping the defense healthy is resting a 36-year-old on random Thursdays, the defense is thin. LeBrun has reported that the Leafs are making calls about a meaningful upgrade on the back end, and Tanev comes up again in his latest Rumblings.

Pierre LeBrun

@PierreVLeBrun

NEW for @TheAthletic, Erik Karlsson and his future ahead of March 1, Joel Quenneville and the Ducks aim to extend their partnership, plus more on Michkov and Tanev in my latest Rumblings. Free to read ⤵️ t.co/NQhbEvysLX

Saturday is the next checkpoint, since Hiller has promised Tanev plays. After that, keep an eye on December. If the maintenance days keep coming once the November plan runs out, it isn't a 1-month trial anymore. And if Toronto finds the defenseman LeBrun says it's looking for, a lot less depends on whether Tanev's body holds up.