With just over a month until the NHL trade deadline, the Calgary Flames have finally begun wheeling and dealing. The club just sent star forward Elias Lindholm to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a package including Andrei Kuzmenko. Lindholm followed in the footsteps of Nikita Zadorov, another Flames unrestricted free agent (UFA) sent to the Canucks in late 2023. That marks two of the ‘big four’ Flames UFAs: Zadorov, Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, and Chris Tanev. It makes sense for the team to re-sign Hanifin as he is an integral part of the team and is just 27. At 34 and without a Stanley Cup ring, Tanev is likely destined to follow in the footsteps of his departed teammates.
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A native of Toronto, Ontario, Tanev was originally found by the Canucks as an undrafted free agent and played the first ten seasons of his career there. He is now in his fourth year as a Flame after signing with the team in the 2020 offseason. Tanev carries a $4.5 million cap hit and has a 10-team no-trade list. This means he can say no to moving to a third of the teams in the NHL. Despite his age and cap hit, Tanev should be a highly sought-after commodity in the league; he is a coveted right-shot defender who posts some of the best defensive metrics in the NHL. Let’s have a look at three Canadian teams that may take a swing at acquiring Tanev’s services.
Ottawa Senators
First up is an interesting destination with the Ottawa Senators. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Tanev is “on the Senator’s radar.” Now, you may be wondering, why? The Senators are in the basement of the Eastern Conference and would definitely not get Tanev his cup ring this year. After acquiring a top-two defenseman in Jakob Chychrun, a starting-caliber goalie in Joonas Korpisalo, and former 40-goal scorer Vladimir Tarasenko in 2023, the team has disappointed many. The Senators also boast young stars such as Tim Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Jake Sanderson, and Thomas Chabot.
The aforementioned defensemen make for a solid young core, but all have one thing in common that creates a problem: they are all left-shooting. The quality of rearguards on the Senators’ right side goes down drastically; Artem Zub, Jacob Bernard-Docker, and former Flame Travis Hamonic line up on the other side of the backend. Tanev would immediately be their best righty from a defensive standpoint. In addition, Sanderson has the most blocked shots amongst the Senators with 89, which is a whopping 46 less than Tanev (135). Both Sanderson and Chychrun turn the puck over at a high rate and playing with a partner like Tanev; they wouldn’t have to panic as much knowing he has their backs. Friedman stated that Senators General Manager Steve Staios is looking for a mentor for his young blue liners, and Tanev would fit that bill quite well.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Let’s keep the discussion in the province of Ontario to analyze the Toronto Maple Leafs’ possible acquisition of Tanev. The Leafs have been in the rumor mill the longest, with reports of their interest beginning in November. Former Flames general manager Brad Treliving is, of course, at their helm, and he was reportedly interested in reuniting with Zadorov and/or Tanev until the former was sent to the Canucks. The price for Tanev, according to senior columnist Pierre Lebrun, is a second-round pick and another asset or a late first-rounder (from “LeBrun rumblings: Chris Tanev’s trade cost, more Blues decisions coming, and the Penguins’ timeline” The Athletic, December 13, 2023). The Leafs have no seconds in the near future from previous deals but do have their 2024 first-round selection to potentially bring Tanev back to his hometown team.
The Maple Leafs are once again competitive and will undoubtedly be buyers up until the deadline. Like the Senators, they have an abundance of left-shooting defensemen; their only righties are Conor Timmins, Timothy Liljegren, and the injured John Klingberg. Unlike their Ontario rival, the Leafs are relatively thin on the backend as their depth drops off significantly after their first pairing of Morgan Reilly and T.J. Brodie. With just one goal and nine points this year, Tanev wouldn’t be quarterbacking the power play with Auston Matthews & co. but would instead provide a steady presence in their own zone and help out struggling starting goalie Ilya Samsonov by getting in the way of lots of shots. Having a defensive stalwart like Tanev would definitely alter both the Leafs’ 12th-ranked goals against per-game stat (3.17 percent) and their 24th-ranked penalty kill (77.4%).
Vancouver Canucks
A curveball, we know. However, the Canucks were apparently wanting to re-acquire Tanev in the recent deal for Lindholm. Per Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal, the team was unwilling to part with another first-rounder to include the blue liner. Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin will likely still be trying to pry him away from the Flames despite this, as the first-place team in the NHL could undoubtedly use a defender of his caliber to help them on a deep playoff run. Their top pairing of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek is arguably the best in the league, but after them, their best rearguard is Tyler Myers, which isn’t a good thing. Ian Cole is solid but unspectacular, Zadorov’s play has declined since his move, and the squad has had a revolving door of sixth defensemen.
If one had to nitpick the Canucks’ almost perfect season thus far, they could simply point at the team’s mediocre penalty kill (80%, 15th in the NHL) and the fact that they are routinely outshot with an average of 30.2 shots against per game (17th). But most importantly, the team gets bailed out by star netminder Thatcher Demko all too often; per Natural Stat Trick, they concede a great deal of high-danger chances against (HDCA) with just over 12 per game. The only other current playoff teams that are worse in that regard are the Boston Bruins, the Detroit Red Wings, and the St. Louis Blues. Tanev is an expert at breaking up passing lanes and breaking up offensive opportunities before they become anything. As proof, no regular Canucks defenseman has less than Tanev’s 122 HDCA. Perhaps the Canucks should truly go all-in, sacrifice another pick, and bring Tanev back to where it all began.
To end off, Tanev is highly unlikely to end the season as a Calgary Flame. He is far too valuable not to be wanted by any playoff-bound team. As previously mentioned, he would have to agree to go to almost any team interested, and it is unknown if any of the three teams here are on his list. The Canucks and Leafs both seem to have a shot at playoff runs, but perhaps he is interested in a mentor role on the Senators and potentially competing in an upcoming season with them. Maybe he wants to re-sign with the Flames and make all this speculation moot. Time will tell, and we just hope that wherever Tanev ends up, he and his family are happy and that he is given a well-deserved shot at the Stanley Cup in the near future.
