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Toronto Maple Leafs: 10 Defenseman Not Named Pietrangelo to Pursue

By Stephen Nixon

SUNRISE, FL - DECEMBER 15: Aaron Ekblad #5 of the Florida Panthers and Mitch Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs battle behind the net during second period action at the BB&T Center on December 15, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FL - DECEMBER 15: Aaron Ekblad #5 of the Florida Panthers and Mitch Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs battle behind the net during second period action at the BB&T Center on December 15, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – FEBRUARY 29: Christopher Tanev #8 of the Vancouver Canucks skates after the puck against Kasperi Kapanen #24 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on February 29, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Canucks 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

#5. Chris Tanev

It’s time for the Leafs to bring an UFA right-handed defenseman home. No, not Pietrangelo, but Chris Tanev, instead.

If you think of the Vancouver Canucks defense, you think of Quinn Hughes, Alex Edler and Tyler Myers before you think of Tanev. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t just as valuable as the other three I mentioned. The Canucks have bigger fish to sign (Jacob Markstrom) and with Hughes and Elias Pettersson set to become RFA’s in the next few years, singing Tanev may not be something they can afford.

Tanev played his entire junior hockey career in Toronto and didn’t go too far for his collegiate hockey, playing at RIT (Rochester Institute Technology). Now that he’s played in Vancouver for the past decade, he may want to come back to his roots and play for his hometown team. As everyone knows, the Leafs need a right-handed defenseman and Tanev fits the mold.

He’s not going to provide a ton offensively, but will be a solid second-pairing defenseman alongside Morgan Rielly or Jake Muzzin who can provide a ton of defensively stability. If the price is right, Tanev would be a great signing for the Leafs.

Tanev has been rumoured to be coming to the Leafs for years, so who knows, maybe this time it will finally happen.  He’d provide a solid defense-first option that arguably the Leafs are currently missing.

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