The Vancouver Canucks solidified their blue-line on Saturday afternoon, signing young rock-solid defenceman Chris Tanev to a 1-year, $2 million deal. The 24-year-old has shown great consistency and has been extremely reliable for the team in his three-year tenure in Vancouver. Re-signing Tanev was a must for Canucks GM Jim Benning, as the loss of Jason Garrison left a large gap to be filled, and losing Tanev would turn the Canucks’ defence into a circus. Although the length of the deal is just one year, the Canucks should consider the Tanev re-signing a steal, and will benefit the Canucks chances of becoming a playoff team next season.
Although the majority of the Canucks suffered through a brutal season, Tanev enjoyed a pretty prosperous campaign. Apart from missing 18 games due to a broken thumb, Tanev continued to improve and become more reliable throughout the 2013-14 NHL campaign. It could be argued that Tanev was the Canucks’ most sturdy and reliable defencemen last year, with Dan Hamhuis having his fair share of defensive errors and Alex Edler having a very underwhelming season. For the Canucks, the season was a trainwreck, but for Tanev, his stock continued to rise as he solidified his spot in the Canucks top four.
The only downside to this deal is that Tanev’s contract is only for the upcoming year, and will expire after the 2014-15 season. If Tanev plays out of this world next season, his salary could possibly double, putting the Canucks in a tough spot with contracts like the Sedins’, running through 2018 at $7 million a season. However, Tanev isn’t a flashy player that will shock anyone with his play, so it’s unlikely that Tanev will pot 10 goals and 40 points and demand a doubling of his salary.
In the midst of the Tanev re-signing, it’s fitting to give newly appointed Canucks GM Jim Benning a round of applause. Former GM Mike Gillis left a major mess with the Kesler ordeal, and Jim Benning took action immediately (something Gillis never did) and made the right moves to put the Canucks in good standing. From the Kesler move to Anaheim, to the signing of Ryan Miller and Radim Vrbata, to the re-signing of Zack Kassian and Chris Tanev at a bargain price, it’s time to appreciate the amount of hard work and success that Jim Benning has put into the Canucks in a very short amount of time. What could’ve been a disastrous offseason, turned into a prosperous one, and Trevor Linden and Jim Benning are beginning to steer this ship around.
Chris Tanev is a key piece to the puzzle when it comes to turning the Canucks back into a contending team, simply because he’s super reliable on the back end, and is a key part to the Canucks’ penalty kill. Without Tanev, the Canucks lack a young, quick stay-at-home defender, and more pressure is put on the bottom-3 defencemen in Alex Edler, Yannick Weber and Ryan Stanton to be a go-to guy to shut down some of the best offences in the league. The Tanev re-signing was a must if the Canucks want to make the playoffs next season; the $2 million cap hit is just a bonus.
The Canucks needed to complete their back end, and the Tanev re-signing does just that. Tanev will likely play on the second pairing with an unpredictable Alex Edler, and will be featured on the Canucks’ first PK unit as one of the key pieces to the puzzle on both the blue line and specialty teams. The Canucks organization and fans should be thrilled with this re-signing.
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