“Unless it makes sense for our future, I’m not trading Chris [Tanev]. He means so much to our team.”
Those were the words of Jim Benning as he made it clear that he is not shopping Tanev on the trade market, but is willing to listen when other teams bring him up. And yet, with the Canucks rebuilding, it’s inevitable that the prospect of trading the 27-year-old will come up, particularly with his no-trade-clause kicking in on July 1st.
The Daily Hive’s Harman Dayal put together a well-reasoned list of four potential trade destinations for the Tanevian One, suggesting that the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, Buffalo Sabres, and Toronto Maple Leafs are the most likely candidates thanks to the right combination of need and available assets.
That said, while it’s a good list, it’s a tad incomplete.
There are many more teams around the NHL that could use an outstanding defensive defenceman like Tanev. He would instantly provide a boost to a penalty killing unit, is capable of playing 20+ minutes per night against tough competition on either the first or second pairing, and is signed to a very reasonable contract. Really, what team couldn’t use Tanev?
With that in mind, here are 26 other potential trade destinations for Chris Tanev.
1 | Las Vegas Knights
The NHL’s newest expansion franchise, who I refuse to call the Vegas Golden Knights, doesn’t have a single defenceman signed to a contract yet. Acquiring a veteran, minute-munching defenceman like Tanev to be the cornerstone of their defence corps makes all the sense in the world.
2 | Colorado Avalanche
The Canucks may be bad, but the Avalanche are truly dreadful. Their penalty kill is terrible and they give up an insane number of goals: they need to shore up their defence or the best years of Nathan MacKinnon’s career will be wasted.
3 | Winnipeg Jets
The Jets have a lot of the pieces necessary to become a playoff contender, but their penalty kill was atrocious and they gave up the fourth most goals in the league. Why not an upgrade on defence? Who needs goaltending when Tanev can block all the shots before they reach the net?
4 | Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have one of the worst defence corps in the league. Tanev would instantly make them slightly less bad. But still pretty bad.
5 | Boston Bruins
AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!
Sorry, my brain just recoiled at the thought of Tanev on the Bru-AAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!
Okay, I’m okay. Look, Zdeno Chara is a shell of his former self. They need a sterling defensive defenceman to step in and support the run-and-gun Torey Krug. The Bruins need Tan-AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!
6 | Detroit Red Wings
The Wings are paying way too much money to old, declining defencemen. If they can figure out a way to move Jonathan Ericsson in a trade, Tanev makes the same amount of money and is six years younger. That's how you spell U-P-G-R-A-Y-E-D-D.
7 | Florida Panthers
Look, the Panthers are the Canucks' perennial trade partners. They have to make a deal and, since they owe the Canucks for the Gudbranson trade, the Panthers should be able to make it worth their while. That's how this works, right?
8 | Montreal Canadiens
Hey Montreal? Do you happen to have another P.K. Subban you’re willing to trade? No? Rats. I guess we’ll just have to settle for Mikhail Sergachev.
9 | Chicago Blackhawks
The ‘Hawks just got swept by the Nashville Predators, which means they’re bound to overreact and try to copy the template of the team that defeated them. In Tanev, they could have their own version of Matthias Ekholm. Sure, they’ll have to jump through numerous flaming hoops of fiery death to clear the cap space to make the deal, but I’m sure they can figure something out.
10 | Nashville Predators
Speaking of the Predators, can you imagine their deadly defence corps with another amazing defenceman? I mean, considering the inevitability of injuries, they’d be foolish not to trade for Tanev.
11 | Pittsburgh Penguins
One team that needs Tanev more than the Predators is their Stanley Cup Final opponents. The Penguins one weakness that pundits have identified is their defence. Acquire Tanev, instant dynasty. Easy-peasy.
12 | New Jersey Devils
A bad penalty kill, an aggressively mediocre defence, and one of the best wingers in the NHL with no one to give him the puck. The Devils need a lot of things and one of those things is Tanev.
13 | Ottawa Senators
Imagine if Erik Karlsson didn’t have to carry the Senators all by himself, but had a steady defensive defenceman either as his partner or to anchor a shutdown second pairing. Then they would truly be Canada’s Team.
14 | New York Rangers
If the Rangers had a stronger defence, Henrik Lundqvist would probably have a cup by now. Marc Staal is bad. Dan Girardi is bad. Chris Tanev is good.
15 | Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers are paying way too much money to bad defencemen Andrew Macdonald and Radko Gudas. The Canucks could take one of those bad contracts back in exchange for Tanev and all of their first round picks for the next five years. Make it happen, Benning.
16 | San Jose Sharks
Sure, the Sharks defence is already quite good, but they have a lot of capspace with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau’s contracts expiring. Also, according to my super-secret Canucks fan-fiction, Tanev and Jannik Hansen are best buds and miss each other a lot. Reunite Jan and Tan, guys.
17 | Edmonton Oilers
Don’t be fooled by their playoff run: the Oilers still have some issues to sort out. If they were smart, they would avoid re-signing Kris Russell and instead trade for Tanev to provide a major boost to their defence. But, I mean, they’re not smart. Obviously.
18 | Calgary Flames
Matt Bartkowski is one of just four NHL defencemen signed with the Flames for next season. They desperately need Chris Tanev.
19 | New York Islanders
The Islanders give up a lot of shots; they need Tanev to block a few. Sure, they have baffling salary cap issues that might cause hangups (Behold! The perils of overpaying bottom-six forwards!) but the Canucks could help them out with that for the cost of a few draft picks.
20 | Columbus Blue Jackets
The Blue Jackets went on quite a run this season, but there are plenty of reasons to believe that things won’t go so smoothly next season. Know what they need to steady the boat? An even-keeled defenceman like Chris Tanev.
21 | Minnesota Wild
I can’t bring myself to care in the slightest about the Wild. Even when they’re not trapping, they’re still the most boring team in the NHL. But yeah, they could probably use Tanev.
22 | Washington Capitals
Yet again, the Capitals fell short in the playoffs. Know what they need? A defenceman with Stanley Cup Finals experience. Someone like Chris Tanev. I’m not saying that Tanev is the only player that can transform the Capitals from Presidents’ Trophy winners to Stanley Cup winners, but I’m not not saying that.
23 | Los Angeles Kings
The Kings have lost their Midas touch. It’s about time they panicked about missing the playoffs and made some bad trades, giving up way too many blue-chip prospects and first-round picks in a desperate move to extend their Stanley Cup window. Preferably for Tanev.
24 | Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks have six defencemen making over $3 million per year signed through next season. What’s one more?
25 | St. Louis Blues
It’s weird: the Blues seem like a team poised to become Stanley Cup favourites, but I just can’t bring myself to believe they’ll actually take the next step. If they added Tanev to their defence corps, however, I might. He could provide some balance to a pretty top-heavy defence corps.
26 | Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes are a young team looking to grow into a contender with a young, analytics-minded GM in the front office. Tanev, an analytics darling, is right up their alley. He’d be a great fit alongside any one of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Alex Goligoski, or Jakob Chychrun.
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There you have it: a few completely reasonable, well-thought-out trade destinations for Chris Tanev. Can you think of any I might have missed? Let me know if the comments.
