The Edmonton Oilers have been having one of the most interesting 2023-24 campaigns. They decided to fire their coaching staff after a 3-9-1 start and swapped Jack Campbell for Calvin Pickard after Campbell’s atrocious start. Now, after a 16-game winning streak, the Oilers have their sights set on making a splash at the trade deadline and adding assets in hopes of making a deep playoff run. While the Oilers have yet to make any big moves leading up to the deadline, they will likely be looking to get more active on the trade front in hopes of getting the jump on some other teams who will also be looking to make improvements to their roster.
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The Oilers have supposedly been getting active on the trade front in recent days, and it’s being reported that they have been making a strong push for Calgary Flames’ defender Chris Tanev. Tanev is going to be the most sought-after trade piece at the 2024 Trade Deadline as teams look to improve their defensive depth for a postseason run, and the Flames seem to be ready to begin selling. While the Flames also traded Elias Lindholm to the Vancouver Canucks and have multiple pending unrestricted free agents, they don’t seem to be done quite yet. Tanev is the perfect defensive defender that the Oilers would need, and for the right price, they should be looking to make a strong push for him, and it seems as though they are.
Tanev is a right-shot defender whose strength is on the right side of the blue line in the Flames’ lineup. The Oilers have been running with Evan Bouchard, who has had a breakout season offensively, as well as Cody Ceci and Vincent Desharnais on their right side. Desharnais has elevated his defensive play in a big way this season, but Ceci hasn’t been great. If the Oilers can find a way to bring in Tanev, it would bolster their depth in a big way for their playoff run. While he may only turn out to be a rental player, he should be someone the Oilers are willing to pay the price for.
The Oilers’ main issue this season, and for several seasons previously, has been their defensive play. They should also look to see what’s out there to bolster their forward group, but their main focus should be on improving their defensemen. Tanev is in the final season of his four-year contract with the Flames in 2020, which has a $4.5 million cap hit. The Oilers will have about $2.4 million to work with at the trade deadline, so they will have to move some pieces to make any deal for Tanev work, but they shouldn’t have any issues finding $2.1 million to move out.
Who is Chris Tanev?
Tanev, who is 34 years old, joined the Canucks in the 2010-11 season after a strong showing in the NCAA with the Rochester Institution of Technology, where he scored 10 goals and added 18 assists for 28 points through 41 games. He split his first season of professional hockey between the NHL and the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Manitoba Moose. With the Moose, he scored one goal and added eight assists for nine points through 39 games, and with the Canucks, he had one assist through 29 games.
Throughout his time in the AHL, Tanev scored three goals and added 32 assists for 35 points through 102 games which comes out to a 0.34 points-per-game average. Throughout his NHL career, Tanev has scored 32 goals and added 151 assists for 183 points through 769 games, which is a 0.24 points-per-game average. He quickly established himself as a strong defensive defender who could play big minutes and provide stability to any team that needs him to do so.
Tanev provides a ton defensively. This season alone, he sits second in the league in the blocked shots category with 159. He sits five back of the leader, Nick Seeler, who has played four more games than Tanev. In his career, Tanev has blocked a total of 1604 shots. Watching him play is a delight in the defensive zone, as he has no fear of carrying the puck to break it out and always makes simple plays to get the puck out.
If the package for Lindholm is any hint of what the Oilers would have to pay to bring in Tanev, they should be trying to have an extension attached when he comes over from the Flames. It may drive up the price even more, but it should be something the Oilers look to do, as paying a total of five assets in exchange for a rental player isn’t worth it, and the Oilers may end up having to pay more since they are the Flames’ rival.
What’s Next for the Oilers?
The Oilers are coming off a massive win against the Dallas Stars on Saturday (Feb. 17), where they picked up a 4-3 overtime victory. They are back in action on Monday (Feb. 19) in an afternoon matchup against the Arizona Coyotes.
Hopefully, the Oilers can make the right moves this season. They brought Mattias Ekholm before the trade deadline last season, and he has been a huge help to the Oilers since then. If they can bring in Tanev, he will have a huge impact and could be a difference-maker in the Oilers’ goal of winning their first Stanley Cup since 1990.
