3 reasons why it would make a ton of sense for the Canucks to reunite with Chris Tanev
Chris Tanev would bring a ton of experience to a Vancouver Canucks team looking to stay atop the Western Conference in their quest for a Cup.
Thanks to their dream season so far, expect the Canucks to be buyers at and around the 2024 trade deadline so they can put themselves in an excellent position to snag their first ever Stanley Cup. And there happens to be one player potentially on the move who they can reunite with in their quest to bring that elusive championship to Vancouver.
Chris Tanev has been a fine player for the Calgary Flames, but given the team’s current situation, expect him to end the season with someone else. Given his history with Vancouver, it would be cool to see him return to where he started his NHL career and help the team hoist the Cup in June.
Tanev adds a strong layer of veteran leadership in Vancouver
When you look at the Canucks recent history, it’s been nothing short of awful. Dating back to the 2015-16 season, Vancouver has seen just one playoff appearance. That appearance came in 2020, but unfortunately, they couldn’t top the Vegas Golden Knights in the Second Round.
Barring a meltdown over these next eight weeks, expect to not only see Vancouver clinch a playoff berth, but it’s also okay to expect them to earn a high seed. However, for a team that has enjoyed little success in the last decade, this can often be the time of the year when things get turbulent.
While they already have a pair of established over-30 veteran defensemen in Tyler Myers and Ian Cole, this team is still one of the overall least experienced in hockey, clocking in as the seventh-lowest, and that’s something Tanev will change. He would also be just the sixth player on the team who is over 30, so if there is one team that needs more age and experience during this crucial time of the year, it’s the Canucks.
Tanev’s presence would solidify an already strong defense
The Canucks are one of those teams this season that are great with and without the puck, but they could use one more stay-at-home skater at the blue line to solidify that strong defense. As it stands, Vancouver has allowed 141 goals, which is seventh in the league. So ideally, they would find one more player to break them into the top-five or even the top-three in that category.
Tanev would be that player to help the Canucks go from great to elite here, as he’s already on the verge of shattering his career-high in blocked shots with 151 already on the season. Meanwhile, Cole is the top player in that category for Vancouver with just 109, so it’s easy to see how Tanev’s presence would take the Canucks ability to play without the puck and invade scoring lanes even further.
Overall, Vancouver already has a great defensive rotation, and seemingly every player has pitched in, leading to them being one of the most complete teams in hockey. But if they work out a trade and put Tanev onto the third-pairing, it would be tough for even teams with the most high-octane approaches offensively to score on them.
Few would be more motivated in Vancouver than Chris Tanev
If Chris Tanev returned to Vancouver, this would be a feel-good story in the making. You have a formerly undrafted player who played quite a few games for this team when they last competed for a Stanley Cup. That season, he appeared in 29 regular season games and five playoff games to help the Canucks on their quest.
Tanev was also there for the lean seasons that started not long afterward, becoming a full-time player for this team starting in 2012-13. His final season in Vancouver occurred in 2019-20, when the Canucks had that outlying playoff appearance before he headed to Calgary starting in 2020-21.
While everyone in the Vancouver Canucks organization would be more than motivated to bring a Cup to town, Tanev has quite a few reasons to be part of a championship team here. It’s the team that wanted to bring him in following what was a strong showing in the Men’s College Ice Hockey Tournament back in 2010, so there are a lot of connections between Tanev and the Canucks.
Sure, he brings leadership and his presence will improve this team’s play without the puck even more. But that added layer of motivation would work wonders should Vancouver find a way to bring Tanev back to where he started his NHL career.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference as of February 13th)