Chris Tanev Scouting Report: What the Toronto Maple Leafs Should Expect

How Tanev Fits With The Toronto Maple Leafs

Going into free agency, everyone knew the Maple Leafs would be trying to rebuild their blueline.

Many were hopeful that the Maple Leafs would make a move with a higher upside, such as going all in on Nikita Zadorov. Still, Tanev was the Leafs' No.1 target because he is a right-handed shutdown guy who would pair perfectly with Morgan Reilly.

Reilly is one of the better offensive defensemen in the NHL. He loves to roam on offence, which is fantastic when it works. Still, too often, it has hurt the Leafs, mainly because Reilly has been stuck playing with the equivalent of a traffic cone over the past couple of years.

With the Maple Leafs bringing in Tanev, they have the perfect stay-at-home option to pair beside Reilly. Even when the Leafs had Rielly and Brodie, which was an excellent pairing, they'd inevitably switch it up in the playoff, often adding Lyubushkin or Schen into Brodie's spot for inexplicable reasons.

Last year, Tanev was in the top percentile of defensemen in entry chance prevention, which will help bail Reilly out when he gets lost in the offensive zone. In addition to that, Tanev is an exceptional puck mover, much better than Lybushkin, Brodie, or Edmundson, who the Leafs had last year. Tanev ranked in the top 20 per cent of defensemen in passing and the top 6 per cent in exit possession rate.

While Tanev may not be a significant contributor on the offensive end, his adept puck movement in his own end will be instrumental in providing the Leafs' top players with more offensive zone time. This, in turn, will unlock Reilly's full potential on the offensive side, knowing he has a reliable partner to depend on.

To make a long story short, Tanev is an excellent fit for this team—for how long? Who knows, he could fall off the cliff before next season even starts, like how T.J. Brodie lost his entire game last summer.

This move feels very safe, and while it should help them in the short term, this deal will age horribly regardless of how well the fit looks on paper and will be looked at as a terrible contract unless Tanev helps win a cup in the blue and white.