On June 29th, Toronto traded a 2026 7th round pick along with expiring prospect Max Ellis, to acquire the signing rights of UFA D Chris Tanev. Then, they signed him to a 6-year deal worth $4.5M per season.

Tanev is a player that Leafs fans have wanted for a long time. He is a defensive defenseman, who will stop at nothing to get in between of the puck and the net. Tanev doesn’t bring much offense, but he is one of the best shot blockers in the entire National Hockey League. He is a really smart defender, who knows where to be when he needs to be there. He hardly ever finds himself caught off guard. When high-danger possibilities arise within his blue line, he responds really well, leading the play and the shooter while choosing to give up his body and block shots.

Last season, Tanev dressed 56 games for the Flames, averaging just under 20 minutes of ice time. He was put out even strength and he was featured on the Flames’ penalty kill. He was routinely matched up against opponents’ top 6 forwards, and he laid out 25 hits to go along with 171 blocks before the move to Dallas. He then averaged 19:13 of ice time with Dallas, contributing 36 blocks and 20 hits on their way to a conference finals appearance, losing to the Edmonton Oilers in 6 games.

Brad Treliving came into this offseason looking to add at least 2 defensemen. He’s just got a very solid right shot defender that will do anything to help his team win. 6 years for a 34 year old defender is a bit much, but the odds are in the final stretch of the deal he’ll get put on LTIR like what the Leafs did with Jake Muzzin. We’ll see what else the Leafs might have up their sleeve.