More information has emerged about Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Chris Tanev and his load management plan with the team.
Since Tanev returned from injury for the Maple Leafs, he hasn’t played in back-to-back games, which makes sense.
But he also missed a critical standalone game against the Minnesota Wild, a game the Maple Leafs lost 5-2, which led to questions about why the team rested him due to load management.
Now, we have more information about the team’s plan when it comes to resting Tanev.
NHL Insider Reveals Plans About Chris Tanev’s Load Management
According to NHL insider Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, the Maple Leafs and Tanev had previously agreed to his load management plan.
However, once Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly went down with an injury, Tanev wanted the plan to change, but the team wouldn’t budge, which is frustrating the veteran defenseman.
“There’s no question that the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Chris Tanev would rather have played Thursday against the Minnesota Wild than be in street clothes as part of the team’s load management with the veteran defenseman. Some background on that: The organization approached Tanev while he was injured about a load management plan for the month of November to help balance his return from injury. All parties agreed he wouldn’t play back-to-back games in November, as well as one particular game that wasn’t a back-to-back: Thursday night against Minnesota. So none of this would have caught Tanev off guard,” LeBrun wrote.
“Except that once top-four defenseman Morgan Rielly got injured, Tanev felt that he shouldn’t be missing games, which is a natural emotion for a fierce competitor such as Tanev. But the Leafs have stuck with the original load management plan for November. What will be interesting, of course, is where it goes starting next month and beyond. The conversation is fluid. But I doubt he will want to miss any more games if his body holds up past this month.”
Maple Leafs Criticized for Load Management Plan
Although the Maple Leafs using load management on Tanev makes sense on paper since he is 36 and is coming off an injury, the team likely should be willing to switch things up now that Rielly has gone down with an injury.
The truth is, the Maple Leafs are already in a tough spot in the standings right now, so they can’t continue to give up points if they are planning on making the playoffs this year.
While in an ideal world they would give Tanev time off to rest, the team can’t really afford to be doing it right now given the injuries they are facing on their blueline at the moment.
It is worth noting that LeBrun said that the Maple Leafs and Tanev could circle back to each other next month and try to figure out if the plan is still working or not. But based on where the team is in the standings right now, they can’t really afford to let him sit out any more.
More Information Emerges About Chris Tanev’s Load Management