Absolutely hated the Tanev signing when I first heard about it. But after watching a couple games isolating his play, I think my opinion on him has flipped, although I do still think he’s a bit expensive and his injury prone nature makes Travis Hamonic look like the NHL’s ironman, but based on what I saw:
- His skating stride and mobility is surprisingly excellent
- Has decent poise with the puck, didn’t just force higher risk plays
- He closes in very quickly on puck carriers because of his excellent skating ability
- He neutralizes plays with a good stick
- He’s very assertive, leans on guys and is hard to play against
- Good hockey IQ and anticipation, sees things before they happen
- Seems like the opposition has a difficult time stringing plays together when he’s on the ice
Overall I’d say he instantly becomes one of our best defensive defensemen. I think he’ll definitely be better than Hamonic because he’s such a good skater and has a bit of a nasty streak. Loved Brodie because he could do everything well and had more dimensions to his game, but I think this team needs to be harder, harder on pucks, harder on forechecks, harder along the boards, harder to play against and etc etc. Tanev does that and I think his leadership ability can make up for the lack of offensive flair. Also, like the idea of taking away quality players from your divisional opponent and while adding to your team, it’s sort of a double whammy in it of itself.
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