"I was just sort of waiting": Tanev details how Canucks lost him in free agency
Chris Tanev played 10 seasons for the Vancouver Canucks, putting his body on the line every time he stepped onto the ice.
He fearlessly blocked shots and took hits to make plays with regularity. The undrafted defenceman turned into a valuable member of the Canucks, but when he became an unrestricted free agent in 2020, it was crickets from Jim Benning and company.
Speaking with Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast, Tanev opened up about his departure from Vancouver three years ago. He said he didn’t want to leave and that he was upset the team didn’t even offer him a contract until it was too late.
“I thought I was going to for sure be back in Van,” Tanev said. “I was just sort of waiting and waiting for a contract. Waiting, and they’d tell Wade, my agent, ‘It’s coming, it’s coming.’ I think they were trying to make some other moves, and I was on the back burner, which was fine. It’s part of the business of hockey. But I definitely didn’t envision me not being in Vancouver.”
One year earlier, the Canucks gave Tyler Myers a five-year contract worth $6 million per season. Two years earlier, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel were handed matching four-year contracts worth $3 million per season.
But when it came time to pay Tanev, the well was dry.
Tanev said he didn’t receive an offer from the Canucks heading into free agency. By the time the phone rang, it was too late.
“I was sort of upset by it all. I think if I did it again, maybe you take a bit of the emotion away from it. They did end up offering me [a contract] a couple of hours into free agency. I was already sort of upset. I didn’t really want to be back at that point. I wanted to go somewhere where people wanted me.”
He was wanted in Calgary, signing a four-year contract worth $4.5 million per season.
“It was a super, super tough decision, but it sort of made it for itself when I didn’t really get an offer until a couple hours into free agency. I had been there a long time. I had been there for 10 years, and I feel like I definitely gave my heart and soul every game. I didn’t think I wouldn’t be a Canuck, but I was happy to join Calgary.”
The Canucks signed Braden Holtby to a two-year contract worth $4.3 million per season the same day they lost Tanev. Three days later, Benning traded a third-round pick to get Nate Schmidt, who made more money ($5.95 million) and had more term left (five years) on his contract than Tanev.
Needless to say, those were regrettable decisions. Holtby (buyout) and Schmidt (trade) were gone after just one season, while Tanev excelled in Calgary.
The Canucks never replaced what Tanev brings to the table, and they paid for it. Quinn Hughes struggled the following season without his steady defence partner. Vancouver went on to have one of the worst penalty kills in the NHL for the next three seasons, which is an area of specialty for Tanev.
You can bet the Canucks missed Tanev’s leadership, too, given his nickname among his teammates was “dad.”
Even now, with the Canucks seemingly pointed in the right direction under Rick Tocchet, the 33-year-old Tanev is a player that Vancouver has rumoured interest in.
But to get Tanev in a trade is expected to be difficult and costly.
So how about free agency next summer? Bet it won’t take two hours for him to receive an offer.