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

The Toronto Maple Leafs could have done more to make significant moves in the free agency market.

The Toronto Maple Leafs most significant move was securing Chris Tanev's negotiating rights during the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, giving the Leafs' management less than 48 hours to finalize Tanev's signing before he became a free agent.

Ultimately, Tanev would sign a six-year, 27-million-dollar deal with Toronto with an annual cap hit of 4.5 million (via NHL.com).

Tanev is known as one of the best shutdown defensemen in the NHL.

He is tough as nails and will do everything to win. But despite this reputation Tanev has built, he is 34, turning 35 this year.

This deal will take him up to age 40, making it extremely risky considering what the Leafs just got from T.J. Brodie's contract, which ended up being one of the worst contracts in the NHL last season after completely falling off a cliff.

Despite being high-risk in the future, this acquisition should have a high floor for at least a year or two. Tanev is a known commodity, especially to Brad Treliving, who brought Tanev to Calgary before the 2020-2021 season.

Tanev has already spent 15 years in the NHL. You know what you will get with this guy.

So, let's talk about what we should expect from Tanev in a Maple Leafs uniform this season.

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.

Chris Tanev Film Study

While Tanev's age is a massive concern with this contract, a handful of defensemen older than Tanev still significantly impact other teams. These include Brent Burns (38) and Kris Letang (36), who have a couple of years on Tanev, and John Carlson, Drew Doughty, and Ryan McDonagh, who are all the same age as Tanev.

Last year, 23 defensemen were 34 years of age or older in the NHL. While most played in-depth or third-pairing roles, Tanev was one of the few who played top-four minutes. His elite game sense allows him to have such a significant impact this late in his career. He doesn't rely heavily on his athleticism, which is encouraging for the Leafs in the future.

Here is a quick look at what makes Tanev so good this late in his career.

While most hockey fans have seen clips of Tanev diving head-first to block shots, and he has been one of the best-shot blockers in the NHL over his career, the most valuable part of Tanev's game is his positioning.

Let's talk about how he defends the rush, considering he will likely be doing a lot of that playing beside Reilly, who gets caught in the offensive zone a fair amount.

Initially, when I went looking for the Tanev film, I thought I would be in trouble because these plays rarely end up in the end-of-game highlights. Still, luckily enough, Tanev's off-rush defence is so elite that @VirtualHockeyScout on YouTube already put together this video showing clip after clip shutting attackers down on the rush.

What is most impressive about these clips is you do not see Tanev reaching or gambling on hits. Tanev makes it extremely easy on himself by taking excellent angles, taking away the attacker's space, and running them out of room.

It is not flashy. Tanev will not jump off the screen by laying massive body checks. In fact, you won't notice him all that often because of how easy he makes defending look. He is excellent at slowing the attack, allowing time for his teammates to backcheck. This is precisely what the Maple Leafs need beside Morgan Reilly.

The other thing I want to touch on with Tanev's positioning is his net-front presence. To demonstrate this, @VirtualHockeyScout has another video with a bunch of Chris Tanev's highlights from plays he made last season in front of the net.

While Tanev is a formidable physical presence, he does not get overly engaged in battles in front of the net. Instead, he keeps his stick free and in passing lanes while consistently staying in shooting lanes.

This skill is something the Maple Leafs have desperately needed. For years, this team has struggled with giving up high-danger chances after losing defenders in front of the net.

With Tanev going to be playing big minutes alongside Morgan Reilly next season, the combination of positional excellence from Tanev and Reilly.

Tanev could be the smoother of a skater or an excellent puck handler. His excellent positioning and defensive awareness will be perfect alongside Reilly, who has lacked a competent defensive partner for several years.