What To Expect From Tanev In Toronto?
Tanev will be an excellent addition for a couple of years, or at least should be, barring he steps off the same cliff T.J. Brodie did.
The term of the contract is what is questionable with this signing, but with the price of what other teams paid to sign Nikita Zadorov, Brandon Montour and Brady Skeji, I can live with the Leafs gambling on getting a few good years out of Tanev before it turns into a horrendous contract.
Tanev is not a guy who is going to put up points, but he is a guy who will be on the ice for more goals scored than he will give up.
In fact, over five playoff runs in his career, Tanev has had a positive goal differential at five-on-five in all five of those years and has 56.5 on-ice goals-for percentage at five-on-five for his career in the playoffs.
With the exception of when Vancouver was one of the NHL's worst teams, Tanev has always posted a positive expected goals rating at 5v5.
Tanev's defensive responsibility should help unlock Morgan Reilly's full potential and allow him to return to 2018-2019 form, where Reilly scored 20 goals and scored 74 points.
While the term of the deal sucks, this should be an excellent deal for the Maple Leafs in the short term; Tanev will bring a defensive presence this team has always lacked over the last eight years.