BIG-NAME Collingwood recruit Daniel Wells could "train harder" and "more consistently", former teammate Nick Dal Santo says.

The Magpies signed Wells, who turned 32 last month, as an unrestricted free agent in the past off-season after offering a three-year contract worth up to $1.8 million. 

Wells, who is entering his 15th season, failed to train with the rest of his teammates on the track on Monday and had scans on his troublesome calf, although he said they were just a check-up. 

Dal Santo and Wells were on North Melbourne's list together from 2014-2016 and they dealt with injuries at the same time in the early part of the 2015 season, when the pair spent time together in the rehab group.

Pies coach Nathan Buckley recently said having Wells play 15 matches a season would be a "massive success", comments that Dal Santo told Fox Sports on Tuesday stunned him. 

"There's no secret he (Wells) could train harder, and probably more consistently. That will give him a better opportunity to play a majority of the games throughout the year," Dal Santo said. 

"I recently heard Nathan Buckley say he'd be happy with 15 games – that surprised me, to say that we're happy with our new recruit, one of the best players in the League when he's fit, to be happy with 15 games. That means he's sitting out for seven in the regular season. That shocked me.

"I'd like to see him play the majority and if he needs to have a rest, one or two games, I can understand that." 

Wells lined up for North Melbourne in 19 matches last season and his creativity made an impact – he ranked eighth in the competition for goal assists per game.

However, the two years prior saw Wells play just 12 games.