The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t get much done at The Sphere, but they tried very hard to get their No. 1 target in defence, Chris Tanev. They sent a 2026 seventh-round draft pick and young player Max Ellis to the Dallas Stars in order to obtain Tanev’s negotiating rights until Monday. Now the pressure is on.
It is rumored that the Leafs will try to do something similar to what the Tampa Bay Lightning did with Steven Stamkos by offering the player a long-term contract into his 40s, albeit at a lower AAV (that didn’t work with Stamkos, at least not at the time of this writing).
Tanev will turn 35 next season, but clearly showed last year that he is still at his best, especially with his performance down the stretch and in the playoffs with Dallas after being signed by the Calgary Flames.
Here’s what insider Elliotte Friedman wrote this morning about GM Brad Treliving’s offer to Tanev to sign with his hometown team:
I estimate that Chris Tanev and Toronto will make about $4 million per season for six years.
Friedman added in his podcast “32 Thoughts”:
This is Toronto’s tactic and it is believed to be enough to achieve the goal.
Treliving obviously knows how much heart Tanev can bring to the defense, having signed him to a now-expiring four-year, $4.5 million AAV deal with Calgary. He tried to secure the shot-blocking defenseman earlier this season, but it didn’t work out with his old team.
Tanev blocked a career-high 207 shots this season, and in the playoffs he blocked an incredible 73 shots in 19 games (that would be 315 in a full 82-game schedule).
He would be the perfect complement to Morgan Rielly on the top pair and would give the longtime Leaf more freedom for his offensive forays.
As Treliving told Sportsnet’s Luke Fox, “(Tanev is) aan absolute warrior. He’s a culture bearer for your room. Look, I know what age he is. But I think even last year he showed that he’s one of the best defenders, one of the best defensive players in the league. And he’s a right-handed shooter. He embodies everything you want in a teammate.
“It’s exciting. A damn good player. A great person. He’s going to be an important part of our group if we can get everything together.”
However, the clock is ticking to get a deal done. Free agency officially begins at noon ET Monday.
Photo: © Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports
