The rumours are back and they’ve started earlier than ever.



It seems like Chris Tanev has been connected to the Leafs forever, but the materialization of an actual deal will come down to the return the Canucks can extract from Toronto. Tanev’s been regarded as an excellent trade chip for quite a while, but in speaking with my Athletic colleague Jason Botchford, it seems the 28-year-old’s market value has fallen off a cliff.



“Tanev has two significant strikes against him on the open market right now,” said Botchford.



“One, he’s always hurt and teams are well aware of this trend. It’s no secret. It’s why the value in offers for him cratered this past offseason. People in the league explained it to me this way, executives essentially said ‘OK, a healthy Tanev may be worth X, but because he’s hurt so often, we see his value at 60 per cent of X.’



“The second issue, there’s...