Toronto Maple Leafs sign Chris Tanev to $27 million contract

Chris Tanev is officially set to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Today, the Leafs announced that they’d signed him on a six-year contract a few days after trading for his rights. The annual average value of the contract is $4.5 million, totalling $27 million over the course of the deal.

Tanev was born in Toronto, but it’s his first shot at playing for his hometown team.

Tanev, who was acquired by the Stars in a trade from the Calgary Flames prior to this year’s trade deadline, was to become an unrestricted free agent at noon ET today.

Tanev recorded five points (one goal, four assists) in 19 games and added two assists in 19 playoff games for Dallas last year, after putting up two goals and 10 assists in 56 games for the Flames.

““He changed our team when he came in — in a lot of different ways,” Stars head coach Peter DeBoer said at his end-of-season media availability, as per the Dallas Morning News. “We were a different team from that point on. That’s because of all the things he brought to the table.”

Tanev had previously stated his desire to stay in Dallas, but clearly that did not come to fruition following the move to Toronto.

“I had a great time here. The organization treated me awesome. Coaches were great. I learned a lot. It was a great journey,” Tanev said, also per the Dallas Morning News. “Hopefully, I’m able to stay here. I had a great time. My family had a great time here. We’ll see how that goes. It’s still obviously really early.”

Over the course of 792 career NHL regular season games, Tanev has put up 190 points (33 goals, 157 assists) and 194 penalty minutes. He has also registered 13 points (one goal, 12 assists) in 60 playoff games.

He previously played for the Vancouver Canucks, signing with the franchise in 2010 as an undrafted free agent, before spending his time in Calgary and Dallas.

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