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It feels like the Toronto Maple Leafs have been connected to Chris Tanev forever. Of course, growing up in Toronto, you’re always going to have a connection to the Leafs if you make it to the NHL – that’s just how it goes. But, for a specific team that’s always critiqued for lacklustre defensive play in favour of high-octane offence (one could argue that the former isn’t as bad as people make it sound and the latter isn’t as good, but that’s a debate for another day), Tanev has always seemed like somebody who would be a perfect fit with the Maple Leafs.
That fit came to fruition this past offseason when the Maple Leafs announced they had acquired Tanev’s negotiating rights from the Dallas Stars in exchange for AHL forward Max Ellis and a seventh-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Days later, on the first day of free agency, the Leafs announced the signing of Tanev to a six-year contract worth $27 million annually, giving him an annual cap hit of $4.5 million. The signing came after a long year of rumours that the Leafs were going to acquire him from the Calgary Flames, showing interest in both him and Nikita Zadorov at one point, but rumours of the Flames’ hesitancy to trade with their old general manager led to no such deal happening, and despite continued interest at the trade deadline, Tanev ended up with the Dallas Stars for their playoff run.
To some people, the contract was too long and too expensive for a player who’s turning 35 in December and has battled some well-documented injury issues throughout his career, but objectively, he’s a player who will fill a massive void on their back end and will more than likely give defenceman Morgan Rielly the best defensive partner he’s had since making his NHL debut in 2013-14.
Standing at 6-foot-2 and 193 pounds, Tanev is your prototypical stay-at-home defenceman. He’s never tallied more than 28 points in a single season (setting his career high with the Calgary Flames in 2021-22) and will surprise you if he scores more than two goals next season. Similar to former Leafs defenceman T.J. Brodie, who just signed with the Chicago Blackhawks after four years with the Maple Leafs, Tanev is not a physical defenceman and will rely more on his positioning and hockey sense to outsmart the opponent rather than laying the boom. He’s fearless in his own right, however, finishing tied for third in the NHL in blocked shots last season with 207, sharing the honour with Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Brayden McNabb. Last season was also his career high in blocked shots, up from his previous season-high of 170 which he set with the Vancouver Canucks back in 2013-14.
One misconception worth clearing up about Tanev’s game is that he’s a walking (or skating) bandaid who’s constantly at risk of getting hurt. While he’s had his struggles staying healthy in the past, his durability has actually gotten stronger as he’s gotten older. He played in 75 games last season, only missing a few due to an upper-body injury in December and staying relatively healthy until an ankle injury following a shot-block knocked him out of the playoff run in late-May. He played in 65 games in 2022-23 and didn’t miss a single game in any of the 2021-22, 2020-21, or 2019-20 seasons. Should you be expecting his durability to keep up as he gets older? Probably not, but he’s not the walking injury risk that he’s been made out to be in the past, which is even more impressive considering how much he puts his body on the line for his team.
“I’m going to take a lot of d-zone faceoffs against the other teams’ top players. I’m going to PK (penalty kill) a lot, and that’s just sorta what my role in the league has evolved into.” Tanev said in an interview with The Fan Pregame earlier this summer. When speaking to the media in an earlier press conference, he talked about the possibility of playing with Morgan Rielly.
“Talked to him over the last day and a half about his thoughts about playing with me and being a partner, potentially, with me. That can potentially be a good fit. He’s one of those elite players that there’s not many around.” he said.
Coming off of a two-goal, 19-point season between the Flames and the Stars in 2023-24 along with a 19-game playoff run in Dallas, Tanev will be assuming a big role for his hometown team and will certainly be relied on in said key moments against other team’s top forwards.
The Expectation – Stabilize the defensive corps, make Morgan Rielly’s life easy
Rielly has had a revolving door of partners since he joined the NHL over a decade ago, and while he’s had a couple of good ones including Luke Schenn and early-stage T.J. Brodie, he’s often been paired with slow, anti-puck movers that traditionally shouldn’t be anywhere near a top pairing, and on the odd occasion, somebody who plays a style a little too similar to his game such as Tyson Barrie. Tanev is unquestionably the best player Rielly will have skated on a pair with in his career, and the two already have some experience having played together for Team Canada at the 2016 IIHF World Hockey Championships.
If Tanev can simply show up, eat minutes, and allow Rielly to play his game to the best of his abilities, it will be a win-win situation for both parties and subsequently the team as well.
The Goal – Help get the Leafs’ penalty kill back into the Top-15
The Leafs made the decision to commit to greasier, more offensive-driven players in complementary roles last season at the expensive of low-event, unexciting but strong defensive players such as Alex Kerfoot, Pierre Engvall, and Justin Holl. Their penalty kill suffered last season, finishing at 23rd in the NHL after having the league’s 12th-ranked penalty kill in 2022-23. They tried to improve in this category with the additions of players like Ilya Lyubushkin, Joel Edmundson, and Connor Dewar at the trade deadline last season, but with two of those players gone, it’s going to be up to players like Tanev to get their penalty kill back into the category of competence.
He won’t have to do the job alone, with Jake McCabe and potentially Jani Hakanpaa helping in that department (assuming he signs eventually) and players like Mitch Marner, David Kampf, and Calle Jarnkrok taking responsibility up front, but ultimately, the penalty kill is Tanev’s calling card. If he can meet the expectations cited above as well as help get their penalty kill back into the top half of the league, you’ll likely be hard-pressed to find anybody upset about the signing come next spring.
