Training camp is getting closer, and the Maple Leafs have two very different storylines bubbling at the same time. One could shape the opening-night blue line. The other is about identity, legacy and where this organization is headed next.
Chris Tanev’s status is the one Toronto has to monitor most closely. He says the goal is to be on the ice for Day One of camp, but there are still medical hurdles to clear.
That matters because he played only 11 games last season before having core-muscle surgery in March. No one in Toronto needs to panic, but the Leafs also can’t pretend depth on defence is optional.
If Tanev isn’t medically cleared when camp opens, bringing in another defenceman stops being a nice extra and starts looking like basic insurance.
That’s why Nick Blankenburg enters the picture. The right-shot defenceman remains available, and his skill set makes him a logical candidate for a professional tryout. He skates well, moves the puck, has a clean first pass and brings some bite to his game.
At 5-foot-9, Blankenburg isn’t built to mimic Tanev’s size or physical style. But he doesn’t need to be a clone to help. Toronto appears to be building a more mobile blue line, and Blankenburg’s skating and hockey sense could fit right into that direction.
He also comes with some useful experience. Blankenburg played 49 games with the Nashville Predators last season before being moved to the Colorado Avalanche, and he finished his time with the Predators with 21 points. The numbers matter, but what stands out more is that he’s shown he can handle different roles and stay reliable at both ends of the ice.
A PTO wouldn’t mean the Leafs have picked him as the answer. It would simply give head coach Jim Hiller and his staff a chance to evaluate him up close. That’s a low-cost look Toronto can afford to take.
If Tanev is ready, Blankenburg can still battle for a depth spot. If Tanev isn’t, then that tryout becomes a much bigger deal.
Either way, the Leafs don’t need to force a decision. They just need another option in the building.
The other notable storyline is Mats Sundin’s return to the organization as a senior executive adviser. That doesn’t affect the lineup, but it does carry real meaning for a franchise that has spent years trying to connect its past with what it wants to be now.
Sundin spent more than a decade in Toronto, wore the captain’s C for 10 seasons and was the player the team leaned on through plenty of difficult years. He never brought a Stanley Cup to the city, but you can’t talk about the Maple Leafs of the 1990s and 2000s without putting him at the center of the conversation.
His return lands at an interesting moment, too, because Auston Matthews has already passed Sundin as the Maple Leafs’ all-time goal-scoring leader. Matthews is building his own place in franchise history and could eventually move ahead of Sundin in more categories. But that’s not the same as replacing him.
Sundin was more than a scorer. He was the captain, the face of the franchise and, for a generation of fans, the player most closely tied to the blue and white sweater. That kind of legacy doesn’t disappear just because the record book changes.
Now he’s back in the room, contributing from a different angle than he did as a player. For an organization that keeps trying to balance its history with the demands of the modern game, that’s a meaningful addition.
So the Leafs are dealing with two separate kinds of business here. The Tanev situation could have a direct impact on the roster right away, and Blankenburg looks like a sensible insurance policy if Toronto wants one. Sundin’s return, meanwhile, says something bigger about the organization itself: the Leafs are not just assembling a team, they’re trying to build continuity between what they were and what they’re becoming.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs Still Have One Big Blue Line Worry Before Camp
Torontos offseason overhaul touched nearly every corner of the roster, but the blue line remains the area worth watching as camp approaches. The Maple Leafs brought in Darren Raddysh in a sign-and-trade deal to help stabilize the defense, part of a wider reset that also included a new general manager, a new coaching staff and several personnel changes around the club.
Chris Tanev is still the question mark hanging over that plan. After dealing with multiple injuries last season, the defenseman is waiting on medical clearance before he can join team activities, and his availability for the start of training camp is still uncertain. For a group trying to reset its identity on the back end, the Leafs can only do so much planning until they know whether one of their most important veteran defenders will be ready on time. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Already Have A Cap Squeeze With Another Problem Looming
The Maple Leafs are already dealing with a familiar kind of summer pressure, sitting $2.75 million over the projected cap for next season and needing to clear room before the roster can even be considered compliant. That alone would make for a tricky enough bookkeeping exercise, especially for a team that still has to keep one eye on flexibility for whatever comes next.
Complicating matters is the contract situation around Gavin McKenna, whose deal carries potential bonuses that could drive his cap hit much higher if he hits certain performance milestones. For Toronto, it means the margin for error is thin, and every roster decision has to account not just for the present squeeze but for a possible extra hit later on. [Read more 🡒]
Matthew Knies Could Spark Torontos Biggest Lineup Debate
Matthew Knies has given the Leafs a legitimate reason to reconsider how they arrange their forward group. His most productive stretches have come alongside Auston Matthews, and the underlying numbers have backed up what the eye test suggests, with a stronger goals-for rate there than in combinations with William Nylander or John Tavares. For a team always trying to balance its top-end talent, that kind of fit matters, especially when Knies brings a mix of physical play and a growing ability to make plays rather than simply finish them.
The real debate is whether his game is best served in the top six or as the driver of a deeper line where he can tilt the ice in a different way. Knies showed more of that playmaking side when Matthews was injured, which only adds another wrinkle to the discussion about where he belongs once the lineup is fully healthy. Jim Hiller will ultimately decide how aggressive he wants to be with the forward combinations, and the answer could shape one of Toronto's most important depth questions. [Read more 🡒]