Chris Tanev is billed and expected to be the shutdown defenceman this iteration of the Toronto Maple Leafs desperately needed. Tanev signed a six-year extension with the Maple Leafs on July 1 in a homecoming of sorts and spoke about the evolution of his game with Justin Cuthbert and Ailish Forfar of the FAN 590 on Wednesday.
“That’s what I’ve been doing for most of my career now,” Tanev said of his penalty-killing ability. “That’s second nature. I’m going to take a lot of d-zone faceoffs against other teams’ top players. I’m going to PK a lot. That’s just what my role in the league has evolved into.
“Every player when they first start playing is skilled and puts up a lot of points whether it’s in college or OHL or WHL, wherever it may be. You got to find your role and fit how you’re going succeed in the NHL. Because there’s only one or two guys who are going to play on the power play and are skilled enough to do that, so that’s how my role as a player has evolved over the last 14 years.”
Tanev took an unconventional route to the NHL and hasn’t looked back since excelling for the Vancouver Canucks during their run to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. And with a compelling viewpoint about how his role has evolved over the past 14 years, here’s how we’ve mapped Tanev’s evolution as a player.
All stats from NHL.com or Natural Stat Trick unless noted otherwise
“I’m going to take a lot of d-zone faceoffs against the other teams’ top players, I’m going to PK a lot – that’s just what my role in the league has evolved into.”#LeafsForever defenceman Chris Tanev shares what he can bring to Toronto with @ailishforfar & @jccuthbert. pic.twitter.com/ka1NXmoGvi
— Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) July 9, 2024
‘He could’ve played with a cigarette in his mouth’
Tanev was recommended to the Canucks by Dave Gagner after emerging as a late-bloomer at the academically rigorous Rochester Institute of Technology and the rest is history — after Tanev signed with the Maple Leafs, we’ve recounted his minor hockey history and unconventional path to the NHL. Once he got to the league, it was clear he could make an immediate impact on the biggest stage.
After making his playoff debut during the 2011 Western Conference Final against the San Jose Sharks, Tanev was thrust into action during Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, replacing Keith Ballard who was benched due to poor form. Tanev’s quite, understated excellence in his own end made an immediate impact and impression upon his teammates, as the Canucks ultimately lost in seven games to the Boston Bruins.
“He could have played with a cigarette in his mouth,” Bieksa told reporters after Game 5 of the Final.
Tanev’s performance in the Final established the baseline for what was to be expected throughout his career: a steady defensive presence who can exit the zone safely, while operating as a safety valve for more offensively-minded partners.
Establishment as a top-pair defenceman and penalty-killer
Tanev was a boon to the Canucks’ Cup run but there were still questions about his game. Thomas Drance wrote a player profile of Tanev for CanucksArmy in September 2011, highlighting that his speed, intelligence and defensive abilities would help him carve out a role in the NHL, but his anemic shot may hinder his ability to maintain a top-six spot. Tanev would never become a genuine offensive presence but his speed, zone exits, defensive intelligence and increased proclivity to throw himself in front of shots helped him quickly become a top-pair defenceman for the Canucks.
It wasn’t an immediate ascension to the top as Alain Vigneault didn’t always Tanev as a plus-asset to the team, but after a brief stint in the AHL, Tanev reemerged as a genuine asset within the Canucks’ top four. Tanev improved significantly during the 2013-14 season, morphing into an top-end penalty killer, while never registering greater than 42 percent of offensive zone faceoffs throughout his career — any data surrounding Tanev’s possession share must be used with the known assumption that he’s getting the toughest assignments possible.
Tanev provided clear value for a Canucks team that was transitioning out of its contention era to a rebuilding phase. He reached a five-year, $22.5 million extension with the Canucks in March 2015 and though he would become one of the longest-tenured Canucks of the modern era, it wasn’t always smooth sailing. CanucksArmy lauded Tanev as arguably the best defensive defender in the NHL upon signing the extension, but he was forced to adapt to higher volume on some intentionally bad Canucks teams.
Tanev’s analytical profile takes a beating on bad Canucks teams
Being a top-flight option on a terrible team presents its own unique challenges and while Tanev had to take on a Herculean load, especially in the defensive zone, his predictive and possession numbers took a beating. From 2015-16 to 2019-20, his final season with the Canucks, the team never registered greater than a 41 percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5. He was Vancouver’s most-frequently used penalty killer during this span by a wide margin and as a constant of his career, still had to face some of the toughest opponents in the NHL on a nightly basis.
This could be viewed as reductionist analysis, but it’s difficult to improve your expected and actual goals share when you bear an irrepressible share of the defensive workload on a tanking team and while Tanev was still regarded as a stellar defensive presence, he still remained under the radar on a national level. That would change with the emergence of a new teammate, who would morph into a superstar in his own right.
A safety valve for Quinn Hughes
Quinn Hughes is poised to become one of the great Canucks players of all-time. The reigning Norris Trophy winner has been a catalyst towards the Canucks’ upstart rise to contention in 2023-24 and at this juncture of his career, he is an elite defender independent of his partner. Of course, that wasn’t always the case, particularly as a young defenceman and Tanev took Hughes under his wing.
Tanev effectively worked as a safety valve with Hughes during their shared tenure. During the 2019-20 season, Tanev-Hughes were the 12th most-used pairing in the NHL, registering a 49.9 percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5, which aren’t home run numbers, but given their top-flight volume, it’s clear that Tanev allowed Hughes to develop into the two-way superstar that he is today. Hughes posted superior expected goals and possession numbers and was a better offensive player the minute he set foot in the NHL, but Tanev’s sense of positioning, defensive workload, shot blocking and leadership allowed for the Canucks’ prized prospect to emerge into a star without rushing his development.
Tanev’s possession share, shot-blocking volume have been elite since 2021
Tanev moved on from the Canucks during the summer of 2020, joining the Calgary Flames on a four-year, $18 million deal. During this span with the Flames — and with the Dallas Stars, upon being acquired at the 2024 trade deadline, Tanev restablished himself as one of the NHL’s elite defensive presences. Dallas controlled a dominant 62 percent share of the expected goals at 5-on-5 when Tanev was on the ice in 19 regular season games via Natural Stat Trick and a 54 percent share during the playoffs.
By his own admission, Tanev played the best hockey of his career and is seemingly balking at the idea that he’ll be subject to age-related decline.
“Knock on wood, the last five years I’ve played I’ve only missed 20-something games and five were due because I couldn’t get my visa in Dallas,” Tanev told TSN’s OverDrive on Tuesday. “In my mid-20s, for a couple of years, I struggled to stay healthy and there were three or four years where I only played 40, 45 games. A lot has changed in terms of how I protect myself. I think I’m a lot better player. Trainers have done a great job of protecting me in the areas I was prone to getting hurt in those couple of years. I think I played the most in my career the last half of the year, this is the best I’ve played in my career. I think if I keep working hard, I can’t see why I wouldn’t.”
From the 2021-22 season onward, Tanev ranks 17th in blocked shots cumulatively at 5-on-5, while ranking fifth in all situations. Tanev finished fourth in blocked shots at 5-on-5 last season, facing a gauntlet of Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and several other NHL superstars during the 2023-24 playoffs.
“He’s probably the best defensive defenseman I’ve ever played with in my life,” Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger said of Tanev to NHL.com’s Nicholas J. Cotsonika on May 19. “He’s just so solid. He’s not the fastest, not the strongest. He’s just so smart, I think. I mean, his willingness to sacrifice his body and block shots is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.
“I think he fit into our system really well, and I think that’s because of hockey IQ. He knows what the coaches want and does it really well and communicates well with the goalies and kind of knows what we like and don’t like and vice versa. So, he’s been a great fit. Hell of a player.”
Tanev will likely start his Maple Leafs tenure attached to Morgan Rielly as the team’s No. 1 right-shot defenceman, as the club desperately attempts at another deep playoff run. It’s clear that no matter what role Tanev is placed in, he has the willingness to adapt and do all the little things that contribute meaningfully to winning.
