The 2025-26 Toronto Maple Leafs season is coming fast but before the games truly matter, we at Editor In Leaf are taking a look at one player everyday until the puck is dropped, and what we could expect from them this time around.
Despite what Paul Rudd to leads us to believe, Father Time is undefeated. In sports, it's not about asking if a player will hit a wall as time goes on, but when. There are plenty of Toronto Maple Leafs players threatened by the aging curve, but Chris Tanev stands out as someone who's aged like fine wine.
At least so far.
Frankly, there was some concern about Tanev and age-related decline when he first signed his last contract with Brad Treliving as a part of the Flames back in 2020. By certain metrics, Tanev seemed to already be in a steep decline, prompting fears of a Marc-Edouard Vlasic-style albatross contract.
Instead, he's played some of the best hockey of his career, carrying strong play from his time with the Flames through his debut Maple Leafs season.
Rare defenseman who appeals to "nerds" and curmudgeons
Despite beginning a career-high 74.4-percent of his shifts in the defensive zone, the Maple Leafs and serving as a primary penalty-killer, Toronto scored eight more goals with the 35-year-old on the ice than they allowed.
Traditionalists drool over physicality, but great defensive-defenseman do a lot more than intimidate.
He truly earns his shutdown moniker by keeping chances to the outside, while also possessing undervalued skill when it comes to denying zone entries.
Don't sleep on his skill to make breakout passes, either, another area where a high-IQ player can make it easier to play defense by ... well, not really needing to play as much defense.
Sure, we're not talking about an electric scorer who will appeal to Norris voters who did little research beyond sorting for most points. There's at least one area where his offensive game shines, though: self-awareness. Plenty of blueliners develop reputations for killing shifts with empty point shots.
Tanev wisely defers to more skilled players, which is an especially important instinct when Morgan Rielly is roving.
Contenders need value contracts. Getting someone who clamps down on opponents this well, with some added transition value to boot, is blessed at a $4.5 million cap hit.
How long can he keep Father Time at bay?
Tanev turns 36 on Dec. 20. That's not ancient, and he still has that brain and useful size.
The smart money is on a 2025-26 season that looks quite a bit like the past year. That said, beyond the sheer gravitational force of getting older, there are a few areas where he might look worse -- even if those largely revolve around forces outside of his control.
It's hard to imagine him getting the same bounces, for one thing. When you combine your team's on-ice shooting percentage and save percentage, you get the stat "PDO." If someone's PDO rests comfortably above 100-percent, it can be a red flag for a future decline. In 2024-25, Tanev set a career-high with a 103.6.
Don't expect Toronto to duplicate a career-high on-ice shooting percentage of 12.3 with him on the ice. Regression and a loss of Mitch Marner could be enough to nerf that stat considerably.
One must also wonder if goaltending will slip.
Between strong backup work in Florida and battling for the starting job in Toronto, Anthony Stolarz has been on fire lately. It's logical to expect a dropoff from lofty numbers such as a save percentage of 92.6 and a robust 72.7 quality start percentage.
Overall, it's wise to expect fewer bounces to go his way, even if Tanev remains as shrewd a shutdown presence as ever before. But if there's a slow start where those "corrections" happen in a flurry, it might unnerve people who did little beyond look at a plus/minus rating.
With five years remaining on what is currently an extremely team-friendly contract, the assumption is that Father Time will stroll in at some point and cause some real problems. As long as the Maple Leafs stay realistic, they should be pretty happy with his work next season.