Christopher Tanev | #8 | D

[Boudrias]

9 hours ago, AlwaysACanuckFan said:

Ben Kuzma: Canucks’ Tanev takes aim at generating offence

 

Look for Chris Tanev to add a more offensive element to his game this coming season, starting with the shot he’s been working on. The Canucks’ steady blue-liner was reassured by GM Jim Benning over the summer that the team wanted to keep him.

 

BEN KUZMA
Published: September 15, 2016
Updated: September 15, 2016 7:31 PM PDT
Filed Under:
The Province Sports Hockey Vancouver Canucks

 

Shot suppression is Chris Tanev. Shot generation is not.

An enviable combination of skating, smarts, timing and fearlessness has allowed the Vancouver Canucks’ defensive defenceman to log big minutes, shut down top lines and draw league-wide acclaim.

It also made him the subject of off-season trade rumours because who wouldn’t want a durable, dutiful and low-maintenance rearguard who plays hard? Who wouldn’t woo GM Jim Benning and offer scoring help to spring the 26-year-old Tanev, who’s a bargain with four more years at a US $4.45-million annual salary cap hit?

“I didn’t really hear about it (rumour), but my brother followed it,” Tanev said Thursday following an informal skate at Rogers Arena. “I got a call from Jim Benning one day to just reassure me that they (Canucks) want me and all that stuff wasn’t true. That was definitely reassuring.”

 

Tanev not only led the Canucks with 166 blocked shots last season to rank 16th in the NHL, he fell in front of the hardest shots at that toughest times. The Canucks were clinging to a 2-1 lead against Tampa Bay on Dec. 22, when he dropped in front of a heavy Steven Stamkos slapper. Tanev hobbled off the ice with a deep bruise on his right foot. Ironically, he had discarded a shot-blocker on that skate because he was repeatedly tripping over it. Regardless, Tanev would miss just two games.

 

“That’s what I grew up doing,” shrugged the undrafted Tanev. “I don’t want to give up opportunities where our goalies have to make tough saves. I don’t know too much about all the analytics, but I know when Eagle (Alex Edler) and I are out there, we’re just trying to get pucks out of our zone quickly.”

 

Tanev also excelled in his first world hockey championship experience in May at Moscow. He paired with the Leafs’ Morgan Reilly to log major minutes and it was the go-to tandem to lock down a gold medal for Team Canada. Regarded as the best defenceman in the tourney, Tanev logged 21:38 against Finland in the final, including 8:37 in the third period. He was not on the ice for a single even-strength goal against in the entire event.

“Going into it, I didn’t know how it would go,” admitted Tanev. “I definitely had the time of my life and met a lot of good guys and, most importantly, we won.”

Imagine if Tanev can add an offensive element this season?

 

The Canucks generated just 23 goals from the back end in 2015-16, fifth lowest in the league, and six of those came from the departed Matt Bartkowski. Tanev scored four times and has never had more than six in any season, and the fact he has trouble getting shots away — and also finding the net — was his summer focus. His 42 shots in 69 games last season were the lowest on the club of anyone who played more than half the season. And it wasn’t just defencemen.

The Canucks ranked 28th with 28.2 shots per game, and that had a lot to do with icing the league’s worst face-off percentage to go with a 29th-ranked offence and 27th-rated power play in missing the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons.

Tanev believes “getting it” offensively starts with play in his own zone. He says Erik Gudbranson will add a needed defensive presence and that Ben Hutton should be the beneficiary to pick up where he left off in his rookie campaign, placing second in assists (24) among first-year blue-liners.

“We were hung up in our own end and weren’t breaking out with the puck,” said Tanev. “People don’t realize how well Gudbranson moves and how smart he is, and that’s going to help us out tremendously.

“I worked on my shot a lot, but as a whole we need to be up in the play more. We had a lot of shots blocked or didn’t even get them on the net. I’ve been working more on my mechanics. You just don’t want to shoot pucks aimlessly with no goal in mind. When you work on mechanics, you can see when you do it (release) properly and when you don’t. It gives you a good mindset.

“So many guys are blocking shots and you sometimes have to get it through three layers of players. You have to have your head up all the time and find the little open areas and get pucks off quicker than we did last year."

 

http://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/jason-botchford-canucks-tanev-takes-aim-at-generating-offence?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Tanev had a great World Cup. I am in the trade Tanev camp based on what comes back. It has to be significant. My reasoning for making a deal is Tanev's long term ability to withstand physical play especially in playoffs. Top that with his mentioning above of his shot blocking. He is very good at it but it also takes a toll. Canuck d-core will be bigger this fall and how that helps Tanev's game will be very interesting to watch. It has the potential of doing away with any trade rumors as he plays more physically sheltered TOI.

[Blömqvist]

Holy cow Matt Bartkowski had 6 goals last year??!? Wowwwwwwww 

 

I'm hoping the D-Core as a whole generates more offense and better transition game with the addition of Gudbranson, considering he gives us another solid defense pair and, as Tanev says, moves well and is a smart player. 

[Blömqvist]

7 hours ago, Boudrias said:

Tanev had a great World Cup. I am in the trade Tanev camp based on what comes back. It has to be significant. My reasoning for making a deal is Tanev's long term ability to withstand physical play especially in playoffs. Top that with his mentioning above of his shot blocking. He is very good at it but it also takes a toll. Canuck d-core will be bigger this fall and how that helps Tanev's game will be very interesting to watch. It has the potential of doing away with any trade rumors as he plays more physically sheltered TOI.

This year, if Tanev develops an offensive game (30+ points with elite shutdown ability)  I would keep him, but if he doesn't and we see progression from Gudbranson and Tryamkin then I would definitely trade Tanev for the right price. 

[Alflives]

1 minute ago, Blömqvist said:

This year, if Tanev develops an offensive game (30+ points with elite shutdown ability)  I would keep him, but if he doesn't and we see progression from Gudbranson and Tryamkin then I would definitely trade Tanev for the right price. 

Why wait though.  His value is really high, especially with the Hall trade.  Problem is JB refuses to put the for sale sign in n the lawn. Could you imagine the offers?  

[IBatch]

On 5/29/2016 at 11:20 PM, Fakename70 said:

Sorry, but, I still don't see the guy as a legitimate top-pairing or even top-4 defenceman at all. Wouldn't be heartbroken if he were the centerpiece to acquire Hamonic. 

Joking right?  Even with all the regurgitation of media poop directed our way this year, the majority of the reviews consider Tanev and Edler as decent pairing.  In the Hockey News Yearbook, they wrote "Edler and Tanev form a credible top pairing" - and he was one of Canada's top defenders in this years World Championship's.  Tanev has also been considered a poster boy for advanced statistics for several years now, and he gets a respectable amount of points.  I see this post is from last May, perhaps you would like to reconsider things now that Tanev has proved he can play a top tourney and not look out of place. 

[IBatch]

1 hour ago, Alflives said:

Why wait though.  His value is really high, especially with the Hall trade.  Problem is JB refuses to put the for sale sign in n the lawn. Could you imagine the offers?  

From EDM we could expect Eberle, from anyone else you could expect a 50-55pt guy (ahem Landeskog).  A team that is bumping the cap might want to try and grab  - and shed some payroll on for a guy earning in the 6million range.  Problem is can our defense handle losing him?  Doubtful, to me he is part of the new core, and should be as untouchable as Horvat (our future captain).  Looking forward to watching him reach his prime...and all the returns that will bring this club.

[Alflives]

Just now, IBatch said:

From EDM we could expect Eberle, from anyone else you could expect a 50-55pt guy (ahem Landeskog).  A team that is bumping the cap might want to try and grab  - and shed some payroll on for a guy earning in the 6million range.  Problem is can our defense handle losing him?  Doubtful, to me he is part of the new core, and should be as untouchable as Horvat (our future captain).  Looking forward to watching him reach his prime...and all the returns that will bring this club.

Yes, Tanev is a very good shut down d, one of the best in the league.  If he could get us a young top line forward though...  JB would not want Eberle.  RNH maybe?  

[IBatch]

3 hours ago, Alflives said:

Yes, Tanev is a very good shut down d, one of the best in the league.  If he could get us a young top line forward though...  JB would not want Eberle.  RNH maybe?  

Not sure who would be the better pick to be honest...both have injuries issues...don't think EDM wants to trade with us though, they needed a guy like Tanev way more than Larsson, but wisely so decided to trade him out of conference (instead of getting booed out of their own building every time we came to town and he got point).  Maybe we could see a trade for Yakupov...but probably not - who was the last roster player these two clubs exchanged anyway? 

 

Pretty sure Benning has no plans to trade Tanev at this point, he called him personally to make sure that he knew this (local media creating something out of nothing - maybe the CDC inspired it lol). 

Edited September 17, 2016 by IBatch

[Hairy Kneel]

If Tanev start scoring his price will just keep going up. With his work ethic I see him getting more shots through this year thus helping his increase his value. Plus the better he gets the more likely it will be Edler that looks to get traded for offensive help.

[Fakename70]

14 hours ago, IBatch said:

Joking right?  Even with all the regurgitation of media poop directed our way this year, the majority of the reviews consider Tanev and Edler as decent pairing.  In the Hockey News Yearbook, they wrote "Edler and Tanev form a credible top pairing" - and he was one of Canada's top defenders in this years World Championship's.  Tanev has also been considered a poster boy for advanced statistics for several years now, and he gets a respectable amount of points.  I see this post is from last May, perhaps you would like to reconsider things now that Tanev has proved he can play a top tourney and not look out of place. 

What is to reconsider? 

He adds no secondary scoring. That's a continual issue for this team. He's decent, sure, but, too invisible to be considered a legitimate top pairing guy. The feedback from the WC's is nice, but, that hasn't moved me enough to change my opinion of the guy as a top-of-the-depth-chart RHD. Which, I see him as on this team only by default. 

In fact, I'll take it a step further: his coming-out WC performance should've provided GMJB the perfect opportunity to kick the tires regarding the situation in MTL this summer prior to their #76's NTC kicking in on July 1st. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I don't know. But, I'd be severely disappointed if Bergevin and Benning did indeed have that talk and fail to agree on Tanev as the centerpiece going the other way. 

If he can add assists and goals to his repertoire and become as effective in the opponent's zone as his defenders at this board argue he is in his own, then I'd come around. But, until then, as armchair GM I'm still concerened about the lack of secondary scoring and how his name keeps surfacing when thinking up schemes to rectify that sooner than later. 

 

Edited September 17, 2016 by Fakename70

[Whale Tail]

Happy to hear Tanev is working on offense. I didn't know Edlers nickname was eagle. 

[Alflives]

14 minutes ago, Whale Tail said:

Happy to hear Tanev is working on offense. I didn't know Edlers nickname was eagle. 

Eddy the Eagle?  From that Britt Ski Jumper guy?

[CanucksSayEh]

If Tanev starts to put up even above average point totals 30ish +, it would make him one of the best overall Dmen in the league... how many guys are as good defensively and put up the points.. not many. Basically people are complaining he's not good enough to get Norris votes, because that's what would happen with 15 more points a season. 

[alfstonker]

On 16 September 2016 at 11:59 PM, Alflives said:

Why wait though.  His value is really high, especially with the Hall trade.  Problem is JB refuses to put the for sale sign in n the lawn. Could you imagine the offers?  

Alf there is nothing stopping ANY GM going to JB and making an offer. JB doesn't have to put the "for sale" sign up. (that is a sign of desperation and poor negotiation skills) On that basis maybe the offers, if any, aren't that good OR you are just regurgitating the usual media cr-p and JB is not inundated with offers at all.

 

So no I can't "imagine" the offers as much as you apparently.

[Salacious Crumb]

19 hours ago, Whale Tail said:

Happy to hear Tanev is working on offense. I didn't know Edlers nickname was eagle. 

They all had animal nicknames, Honey Badger, Eagle, etc.

[Qwags]

One of the most underated defensemen in the league; we've all heard that before.

[Warhippy]

On 9/17/2016 at 7:28 AM, Fakename70 said:

What is to reconsider? 

He adds no secondary scoring. That's a continual issue for this team. He's decent, sure, but, too invisible to be considered a legitimate top pairing guy. The feedback from the WC's is nice, but, that hasn't moved me enough to change my opinion of the guy as a top-of-the-depth-chart RHD. Which, I see him as on this team only by default. 

In fact, I'll take it a step further: his coming-out WC performance should've provided GMJB the perfect opportunity to kick the tires regarding the situation in MTL this summer prior to their #76's NTC kicking in on July 1st. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I don't know. But, I'd be severely disappointed if Bergevin and Benning did indeed have that talk and fail to agree on Tanev as the centerpiece going the other way. 

If he can add assists and goals to his repertoire and become as effective in the opponent's zone as his defenders at this board argue he is in his own, then I'd come around. But, until then, as armchair GM I'm still concerened about the lack of secondary scoring and how his name keeps surfacing when thinking up schemes to rectify that sooner than later. 

 

What is the primary duty of a defenseman?  is it scoring points or preventing them?

 

Which one does Tanev do better than most defensemen in the league?

 

Always need a guy like Tanev around, but if the price is right it has to be in the near Hall return to be worth it

[N4ZZY]

37 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

What is the primary duty of a defenseman?  is it scoring points or preventing them?

 

Which one does Tanev do better than most defensemen in the league?

 

Always need a guy like Tanev around, but if the price is right it has to be in the near Hall return to be worth it

i agree that the primary role of the dman is to defend. lol. scoring is an added bonus and element to the dmans game these days. but primary purpose is to prevent goals. and Tanev does that very well. he's valuable for sure to a team in need of defensive bolstering. 

[Warhippy]

45 minutes ago, N4ZZY said:

i agree that the primary role of the dman is to defend. lol. scoring is an added bonus and element to the dmans game these days. but primary purpose is to prevent goals. and Tanev does that very well. he's valuable for sure to a team in need of defensive bolstering. 

Don't get me wrong more offense would be huge.  But we should have other guys for that and allow for him and one or two more to simply be prevention.

[N4ZZY]

8 minutes ago, Warhippy said:

Don't get me wrong more offense would be huge.  But we should have other guys for that and allow for him and one or two more to simply be prevention.

i know what your saying. i wouldn't mind if Tanev added more offense to his game either. but if he doesn't. i don't necessarily think that makes him less of a dman.