As for the debate about who Tanev replaces, it as simple as 'Brodie' or 'Hamonic'. The Flames' D core is going to evolve substantially over the next couple years, due to all the young guys with growing roles.
I think that, for this year, Tanev's role will be mostly with Gio as a top pairing guy, facing the toughest competition - so more of a replacement of Brodie than Hamonic. Meanwhile, Hanifin - Andersson will continue to get more and more responsibility over the course of the season, and Valimaki - Kylington/whoever will get sheltered minutes.
However, Hanifin, Andersson, Valimaki, Kylington and Mackey will all get the opportunity to grow, and at least some of them will. That will mean that Tanev's role will start to be reduced. I would suspect that by next year, he is a 2nd pairing guy with mostly defensive responsibilities (i.e. replacing last year Hamonic), and by years 3 and 4, he is a 3rd pairing guy (i.e. replacing recent Hamonic).
I don't look at this deal as 'Tanev is going to be a 1st pairing guy for 4 years - we're screwed. I look at it as Tanev being a 2/3 guy this year, a 3/4 next year, a 4/5 in year 3, and a 5/6 in year 4.
I see it as a guy who will help the young guys and take some responsibility off their shoulders for a while, while they learn and grow. Then those guys will pass him and push him down the lineup.
Considering that, I am not concerned about 4 years (though obviously, less would have been better). And I am certainly not concerned about $4.5M, which is 2nd-pairing-guy money.
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