The Smartest Thing the Maple Leafs Can Do With Chris Tanev

There is something very easy to forget about hockey as training camp approaches. We start thinking that everybody has to be ready on the same day. The veterans skate in, the kids try to make the team, the coaches start drawing lines on the whiteboard, and suddenly everybody is supposed to be healthy and ready to go.

Chris Tanev doesn't really fit into that picture anymore. And maybe that's perfectly fine.

Tanev is 36 years old. Last season was a physical disaster for him. He played only 11 games after dealing with a concussion, a frightening spinal injury and then a groin and core-muscle problem that eventually required surgery. Now, six months after that surgery, he is still waiting for the doctors to give him the green light. Tanev says he feels good and wants to be on the ice for Day 1 of camp. That's the competitor talking.

But the Maple Leafs shouldn't necessarily listen to the competitor in Tanev.

They should listen to the doctors. This is one of those situations where being cautious isn't weakness. It's common sense. Toronto didn't pay Tanev to win a September conditioning skate. They paid him to be the kind of defenceman who can play the ugly minutes when the games get important. He is the guy you want standing in front of your net when the other team is throwing everything at it. He's the guy you want killing a penalty late in a playoff game. He's the guy you want beside a younger defenceman when things get a little frantic.

So if Tanev needs another week or two, so what? Actually, that's where I think the Maple Leafs have an opportunity. Let somebody else take the September minutes. Let the younger defencemen fight over them. Let Tanev work his way back without having to prove anything to anybody. The Maple Leafs have enough experience on the blue line that they don't need to turn his recovery into a daily referendum on whether he's ready.

The Maple Leafs have plenty of good reasons to be patient with Tanev.

And there's another reason to be patient. Tanev's value to this team isn't measured by how many games he plays in October. It's measured by whether he can still be Tanev when the games get hard. That's the part that matters.

Last season showed Toronto what happens when the blue line loses its stability. Tanev's absence was felt, and the team eventually finished last in the Atlantic Division while allowing the second-most goals in the NHL.

So yes, having Tanev ready for camp would be terrific news. But having Tanev healthy in April would be much better news. Sometimes the smartest move a hockey team can make is to wait.