Chris Tanev is now a Dallas Star, and Jim Nill didn't even pay the iron price
Seriously...talk about sorcery.
You can’t convince me that the NHL makes sense. Chris Tanev is an elite shutdown defensemen. While yes, he’s on an expiring deal, he’s also a top pairing caliber player with all the skills that you associate with modern defending despite his reputation as a grunt worker. In exchange for his services…
Jim Nill didn’t give up Mavrik Bourque, Logan Stankoven, or Lian Bichsel…nor did he give up a first rounder.
Instead he gave up Artem Grushnikov, a 2024 2nd rounder, a 2026 3rd rounder that is transferred IF Dallas advances to the Cup Finals (yes you read that right: the pick doesn’t even upgrade; it just doesn’t even exist…unless Dallas makes it), and a 2024 4th rounder to New Jersey. In the rare double retention deal, the Devils retain 50 percent of Tanev’s salary, as did Calgary. Tanev is now a measly $1.1 million added to Dallas’ cap.
Safe to say, Nill’s not F’ing around. Tanev was the best defensemen on the market, and Dallas gave up…stuff…in exchange for two teams helping reduce his not-even-inflated-salary no less.
I’ve already written about Tanev here. In fact, we did some film room analysis two weeks ago, so if you’re a paid subscriber but you missed it, now’s your chance. If you’re not a paid subscriber and you want to learn more, now’s your chance too.
However, one last piece of info to drive home just how good Tanev is comes from Mike Kelly, who has access to proprietary data. (From his Twitter).
Tanev may have the reputation of a grunt worker, but data like this makes clear just how talented he is from the backend. He transitions as cleanly as Dallas’ best puck movers. He’s just not a play finisher. But who cares, right?
Now the question is, who does he get paired with?
I suspect Tanev is gonna go next to Esa Lindell. Not saying I agree with this potential match, but it would make the most sense from a historical lens. After all, DeBoer seemed to like the Lindell-Hakanpaa pairing even if it was not his preference. Still, the thought process was to have a top pair that could drive offense, and a second pair that specialized in shutting things down. Lindell already grades out like a strong shutdown d-man. One pair to finish plays, one pair to shut opponent’s plays down.
I get it.
It’s not the pair I’d personally roll with though. I really think Harley-Tanev is the second pair. It gives you an early start on Harley behind Heiskanen, and it basically functions like a top pair. Tanev with Heiskanen sounds good too, and you can’t go wrong, but Heiskanen is used to carrying extra weight, Harley isn’t.
So what’s the verdict?
Miro Heiskanen — Matt Roy (dreaming obviously)
Thomas Harley — Chris Tanev
Ryan Suter — Esa Lindell
Nill has been mentioned as being aggressive. Do we see Sean Walker in Dallas’ future, potentially next to Heiskanen, or on the bottom pair with Suter? There’s no way he’s done.
The best news, besides getting Tanev obviously, is the message it sends to fans and to the team: Nill believes this team can go all the way. This is basically the defenseman version of his Matt Duchene deal. However, if he truly believes this team can win it all, then he’s sitting on a mountain of assets that can still be moved. Surely Ty Dellandrea isn’t sticking around with Logan Stankoven looking elite, right?
P.S. Sucks for Calgary fans, becoming victims of brigandage and all, but anyone following this place knows I’ve been relatively high on Artem Grushnikov. So long the young man they call Crushnikov. We hardly knew ya, but we wish you well!
Nill for the win. GM of the Year x 2? 🤔
Good job Nill, you managed to make a steal of a trade and set the bar for d trades so low you could pull off another.
The only way this gets better is avoiding a season end cap buyout of players who probably should retire.