Tanev inks deal for short-term, eyes long-term
CONTRACT: One-year extension gives defenceman a chance to inflate his stats
When defenceman Chris Tanev finally agreed to a deal that had been sitting on the table for months, it knocked over the final dominoes of the Canucks’ 2013 offseason.
The Canucks locked up both Tanev and Andrew Alberts with extensions Thursday. Both were one-year deals. Tanev for $1.5 million and Andrew Alberts for $600,000, leaving the team heading toward training camp with more than $2 million in cap space.
That’s significant space for the Canucks, who have spent most of GM Mike Gillis’s regime with a payroll pressed up against the cap.
It’s money which could come in handy if an interesting fourth-line centre pops up on waivers. But until then, it looks like the Canucks are done.
They had been waiting on Tanev, whose camp started the offseason looking for more than $2 million a year, while, at the time, believing a predatory offer sheet was likely.
The offer sheet never came, and the Canucks never moved off of their one-year, $1.5 million proposal, which Tanev agreed to sign Wednesday. It’s an offer, by the way, the Canucks thought was generous. They were looking for a quick negotiation. Instead, it dragged on all summer.
If Tanev is going to get the big, multi-year payday, he’s going to have to wait.
He’s also going to have to put up some offensive numbers too. His agent believes that’s just a matter of time for the 23-year-old defenceman who has 10 points in 92 NHL games.
“He’s seeking more offensive opportunities,” said Vancouverbased agent Ross Gurney said. “Was Sami Salo ever replaced? There’s a lot of room on the right side of the ice.
“A one-year deal allows him to get a bigger body of work. More minutes and more points.”
Tanev, for now, slots in as the team’s No. 5 defenceman. He will need to add miles-an-hour to a shot with a Charmin-soft reputation, and even then it will be difficult for him to get power-play chances.
This is a team that already lines up Jason Garrison, Alex Edler, Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa. But, as the agent points out, there’s just one righty in that group.
Even if Tanev has a great year, plays every game, is incredibly consistent, averages 19-20 minutes and jumps production up to 20 points, he may not have much more leverage next summer. He’ll be a 24-year-old restricted free agent with 30 points in 174 NHL games.
He will have arbitration rights, but those numbers will make things tough for his side to win big in any arbitration hearing.
“If you see him play, you know he has ice water in his veins, excellent puck retrieval skills, and he makes great decisions with the puck,” Gurney said. “He makes people around him better. It seemed (with the Canucks) a lot of times when players were having problems, they paired those players with Chris.
“These are all great attributes. But they are not necessarily attributes that gets a player paid.”
Tanev has proven himself one of the Canucks’ most dependable and consistent blueliners and he’s spent much of this summer trying to put on muscle and improve his shot.
“I want to try and find a way to create offence as much as I can without taking away from my defensive game,” Tanev said. “There are areas where I’m looking at where I think I can be better.
“Last year, I made a little bit of a stride. Hopefully, I can do that again moving forward.
“I’ve spent this summer getting stronger and shooting a lot of pucks.”
He is coming off a three-year entry level contract that paid him $900,000 and a season in which he averaged 17 minutes a game.
“He has a lot of unrealized potential in front of him,” Gurney said. “It’s a vicious and violent game, if you can get security, you try to get term in an ideal world.
“But it can be difficult leaving the entry system.”
With Tanev done, the Canucks looked to fill the depth defenceman hole they had. Their first choice was Douglas Murray, but they weren’t going to pay him the $1.5 million he got from Montreal.
With Murray out, the Canucks turned back to Alberts, who gives them size and penalty-killing ability. More importantly, he was willing to sign for $600,000.
For now, Alberts is behind Yannick Weber and is the Canucks’ No. 7 defenceman. Weber has a righthanded shot and can play the power play. Alberts is the big, left-handed guy who kills penalties.
Together, the Canucks hope they are a decent fit at No. 6 and No. 7 on their blue line. But where does that leave Frankie Corrado?
That’s what training camp is for.