3 reasons why it would make a ton of sense for the Canucks to reunite with Chris Tanev

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.