Chris Tanev is back on the Toronto Maple Leafs blue line, and Jake McCabe made it clear Friday morning how much the locker room missed him.
"We certainly missed him last year, his presence on the ice, his presence in the room, his leadership, and he's as tough as they come," McCabe said.
The stat sheet backs him up. The veteran defenseman dressed for just 11 games last season, collecting two assists and a +8 rating.
A year earlier, he was a nightly fixture. He posted a +31 rating across 75 games with 18 points, the kind of season that doesn't happen by accident.
McCabe's quote kept going. "He can pretty much play through anything, and he was trying to come back last year," he said.
McCabe never said what kept his teammate out of the lineup. He didn't need to. The stat line already does the talking.
"I'm glad he got healthy, worked his butt off this summer, because it's nice to have him back," McCabe added.
Maple Leafs owe Chris Tanev $4.5 million through 2029-30
The Maple Leafs are paying for exactly that toughness. Tanev carries a $4,500,000 cap hit that runs through 2029-30, when he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Handing that kind of term to a defenseman who's now 36 was a risky call from day one. Last season showed exactly where the risk lives.
Think of it like buying a used pickup with 878 NHL games on the odometer. The engine still turns over. You just keep a mechanic's number on the fridge.
The good news for Jim Hiller? Toronto's new head coach inherits a veteran with 73 career playoff games, a guy who knows what April hockey costs a body.
The Toronto native came up through the OPJHL with Markham before one season at R.I.T. opened the door to pro hockey.
The preseason has gone well so far. The Leafs have won two straight, including a 4-2 win in Ottawa on Wednesday night.
The real test lands Tuesday, when the Montreal Canadiens visit for the regular-season opener.
Nobody in that room needs offense from Tanev. He scored three times in 2024-25, and nobody complained.
What Toronto needs is a right-shot defenseman who stands in front of his own crease night after night without breaking down.
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Can that body hold up for four more seasons? McCabe sounds sure. The contract is betting he's right, and so is everyone else in the building.
Will Chris Tanev play at least 70 games for the Maple Leafs this season?
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