Evaluating Chris Tanev’s 6-year contract with the Maple Leafs

Chris Tanev’s name has been floating around in talks with the Toronto Maple Leafs for years. The Ontario native is the missing piece of the puzzle in Toronto’s defense, but the question is whether this move isn’t coming a little too late.

The Maple Leafs signed Chris Tanev to a six-year, $27 million contract on the first day of free agency. Tanev was the team’s target, who traded his rights at the draft so they could negotiate with him before free agency began, but it took until day one to agree on the details. That’s a significant amount of time for the 34-year-old, who turns 35 midway through the season, but if he leads the Maple Leafs to the Stanley Cup during his tenure, it will feel like a bargain.

Tanev signed with the Calgary Flames in 2020 after a long stint with the Vancouver Canucks. The signing in Calgary established the relationship between the Maple Leafs and Tanev, as Toronto’s general manager Brad Treliving was in charge of the Flames. Tanev stayed with the Flames for four seasons until the Calgary fire sale began and they traded him to the Dallas Stars last season.

Tanev had a successful run with the Stars, where he shut down Jack Eichel and Nathan MacKinnon to help Dallas advance to the Western Conference Finals. An unspecified lower-body injury after a shot block slowed him down in the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers, not the best scenario against Connor McDavid. Tanev will now travel to the Eastern Conference for the first time in his career to reunite with his former World Championship defense partner Morgan Reilly.

Maple Leafs are a tough nut to crack for defenders

Playing defence for the Maple Leafs is no easy task. Some of the best defencemen got there thinking it would be different, but Toronto’s harsh media always finds a way to drive them out of town. Tanev seems to be a different case. He has the perfect demeanour to handle the media and has always been a player who goes on the ice and does his job to the best of his ability.

Chris Tanev’s problem with this contract length is that the stories of his failures are already writing themselves. The Maple Leafs signed him for six years that end when he turns 40. The contract puts Tanev in a difficult position because he has no margin for error. Maple Leafs fans need to see success early in this contract to justify the length. Treliving offered Tanev the long-term deal to get him to sign, but it won’t look so good if he doesn’t age well.

The Maple Leafs have seen this script, ironically from former Flames players. TJ Brodie and Mark Giordano were new additions that many thought were the missing puzzle piece for the Maple Leafs. Things looked good for them starting their careers in Toronto, but they didn’t take the Maple Leafs to the top. They were both older and in the final year of their contracts last season, and it didn’t go well. The two seemed to be disappearing from town as Giordano was out and Brodie was having the worst season of his career.

Can Tanev buck the trend and succeed for the Maple Leafs? If anyone can do it, it’s him. But don’t be surprised if his career with the Maple Leafs comes to a sobering end.

Chris Tanev is the missing piece of the puzzle

The Maple Leafs have needed a defenseman like Chris Tanev for a long time. They almost got him in Giordano, but he only joined the team at the age of 37 and it was difficult to have too high expectations. Tanev begins his career with the Maple Leafs three years younger and has had a successful playoff run.

Tanev will likely play alongside Morgan Reilly, who needed a partner on defense. Reilly has carried the burden of being the Maple Leafs’ best defensive option for most of his career, but he can’t be the guy who covers everything. Reilly has many positives in his game and having Tanev debut alongside him will boost his offensive game.

Tanev will also be playing a lot of shorthanded minutes, something the Leafs have struggled with in the postseason. The stats that came out in the postseason are that the Maple Leafs, who were knocked out in the first round, allowed more shorthanded goals than the Edmonton Oilers, who made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Special teams win games in the postseason, and for a team that struggles with that, Tanev is a great addition.

Can a 34-year-old Tanev take this team to the top? That’s unlikely. However, the Maple Leafs’ blue line looks much better now than it will at the end of the 2023-24 season, which is why we give the Maple Leafs an average grade on this Tanev contract.

Final grade: B-