How Chris Tanev will fit for the Dallas Stars
Chris Tanev was a name thrown around in trade rumors for quite some time now, and only recently was he finally traded to the Dallas Stars in a three-team deal. Tanev is an old-school style puck-moving defenseman, in which a lot of the defensive posture habits and stickwork habits he started to adopt in his time with the Vancouver Canucks for many years. Tanev likes to stretch ice on breakouts with speed, look to stretch play north, and engage as an active D1 in line rush situations on occasion. The shutdown role he's continued to play in top-4 and penalty kill situations will continue to allow Tanev to adapt accordingly in Dallas.
Dallas has a lot of quality left shot defenders to slot in throughout the lineup, which of course includes Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley (who is having an excellent year), Esa Lindell, and veteran defender Ryan Suter. On the right side, that leaves Jani Hakanpaa and Nils Lundkvist, so it's likely that one of those two will end up bouncing in and out of the lineup. The flexibility by adding Tanev is he can play any role within that top-six, as he can adapt and thrive anywhere. He's been consistently one of the best defensive defensemen the last few years in the NHL, so his consistency has helped him adapt to new surroundings quickly. It will be interesting to see how he adapts in a mid-season situation, but he should be fine stylistically speaking.
We see his WAR being above-average in terms of percentiles among the league's defenders, which is factored in mostly through his defensive value of anything. He's consistently been one of the best defensive defenders in the league, and shutting down team's top matchups allows him to sustain that consistency with time. He still brings quality puck-moving abilities and offensive reliability, and that tailors off nicely in tandem with the defensive abilities as shown on the graph here. In terms of defensive percentiles on the lower right hand corner, he is one of the best. Last season, he contributed more than usual seasons in terms of offensive value and being more active inside the offensive zone and on the rush, with that tapering off a bit more this season.
Tanev's isolation and ability to close plays down 1v1 makes him one of the best shutdown defenders in the league right now. Partially why Dallas would've been intrigued by him, he sustains scoring chances against by using positioning, stop ups, aggressive and strong stickwork, as well as varying his gaps based on the situation. He can play a close gap and gain leverage by playing stick-on-puck in the scenario, but also can leverage a further gap away by staying lined up to the shooter and standing in front of shots to block them.
Compared to Calgary's 1-1-2 PK in D zone situations, Dallas plays more of a 1-2-1, which will be something that Tanev will look to adjust to systematically. This leaves D2 to stay back towards the net and higher danger areas compared to a more active D1, who in tandem with the weak side winger, create more of a diamond-like formation to collapse on the play. If Tanev's the one pinching, he'll be relied upon as more of that D1 to play square to shooters working down the flanks and prevent scoring chances there. In Calgary, the flank shooters would have more room to work with given that there's D1 and D2 staying more passively around the crease. Now, Dallas' system relies on a bit more aggression in those situations.
Dallas also likes to play more aggressive corner coverage and more aggressive man-on-man deep inside their own defensive zone. That will be another thing that Tanev will be able to adjust to, since he already plays quality man-on-man situations by stopping up, leveraging gaps, and leveraging his stickwork to play stick-on-puck instead of brute physicality.
Tanev's ability to control high danger areas defensively with poise also makes him unique. He also rarely chases pucks down and will instead stay true to his positional habits and instincts near the net. He doesn't cheat the play nor look to chase it on low-high sequences, but plays more aggressively around the net when battling 1v1.
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Here we see multiple habits that are effective for younger players looking to pave their path (mainly defenders). In many of these situations, look how Tanev stays consistent with the weight on his toes. He is leaning forward, allowing him to stay upright, but the weight in his feet rarely falls back to his heels. He maintains depth to his center of gravity with his knee bend, and keeps track of his stick positioning through the sequence as well. There's a lot of toecap engagement he looks to leverage in these situations as well.
Tanev's ability to stop up, pinch past the red line when necessary, and look to engage 1v1 in line rush against situations gives him so much leverage based on positional habits. If he weren't very square to the shoulders of opposing checkers, didn't maintain tight gaps, and doesn't match the speeds of opposing players right away, it would be harder for him to adjust to situations defensively. He already has these habits lined up, so it makes things easier to play stick-on-puck with these habits available. The only problem in a line rush against situation is when it is a small area 2v1, as sometimes he isn't sure right away to take the mid-lane driving guy or the guy outside the dot lane. He also sometimes struggles turning his feet and losing speed through turning his feet (Or his entire body), so that will be something to look for in how he adjusts to Dallas' more aggressive system.
The fit in Dallas will be perfect for Tanev though, as Dallas looks to maintain their consistency through this final stretch of the season pre-playoffs.
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Looking forward to seeing Tanev in action with the Stars! Spencer Loane