The hockey season may be over and done with, but the wound that is this last season as a Vancouver Canucks fan is still relatively fresh. There’s plenty of meat left on these bones and with the draft and the opening of free agency now in the rear view mirror, it’s time we got cookin’.

The process starts with a series of player-by-player reviews for the season that was. Today’s will be centered on arguably the league’s best defensive defender, Chris Tanev.





Let’s break it all down on the other side of the jump.

Few moments have reflected positively on Jim Benning as the Chris Tanev extension. Whether it was lip-service or otherwise, Benning gave the first inclination that underlying shot-based metrics might factor into decision making within the Canucks front office – or at the very least, the negotiating process, depending on how you read into it. In describing Tanev’s game, Benning also developed a hallmark term, “transitional defensive defender” that I think will only gain notoriety as the paradigm shifts in how we evaluate defensive contributions.

There’s also the matter of Vancouver actually getting their moneys worth, for a change. That was good, too.

Frankly, it won’t surprise me to see Vancouver’s value from that contract greatly exceed it’s worth over the course of the transaction. There’s a very legitimate case to be made for Tanev as the league’s best defensive defenceman and you’ll find me planted firmly in the camp arguing in favour. His ability to limit the oppositions best on a nightly basis is tops in the league; whether looking at scoring chances, shots or any other in a long line of underlying metrics.

Alongside Alex Edler, the pair formed arguably one of the better defensive pairings in the entire league. Tanev’s plus ability from his own end allowed Edler to focus on what he does best and the both of them reaped immense rewards as a result. The duo left last season in the black both by shot-attempts and goals, with relatively low offensive zone starts. In short, they did much of the heavy lifting defensively.

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It’s a taxing job in and of itself, but especially so for Tanev, who was near the top of the league in hits absorbed – a stat he’s found himself leading much of his career. There’s also the matter of his proficiency in blocking a high percentage of shot attempts directed at his net – a stat which frames shot blocking in a much more positive fashion.

In the article I linked to earlier, Benning goes on to rave about Tanev’s mental toughness. He just might be onto something, but that isn’t to say he isn’t physically up to the task, either. Clearly.

We’re just beginning to scratch the surface of what Tanev provided for the Canucks last season, though. Tanev was an immensely valuable part of their penalty kill and regularly played on the first unit. Among NHL defenders with more than 100-minutes of shorthanded ice-time last season, Tanev was eleventh in SA60.

Crunching Numbers

Boxcars:





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As underwhelming as ever. Still, 20 points marks a new career high for Tanev, trumping his high of last season by three. I’ve never accused Tanev of being overly physical, but I find it surprising that he only had 23 hits in total. Seems a tad low.

Corsi:

Any surprise to see Tanev crushing it in terms of territorial play? He’s only done so in each year since he entered the league. This year saw Tanev post the highest CF%Rel of his career though, leaving in the black by 3.4%. Unsurprisingly, it was Tanev’s ability to limit attempts which is the main driver of this success. Tanev had the third lowest CA60 among all Canucks and the best mark among defenders.

Goal-based:





The underlying goal data shines a less favourable light on Tanev, as he left only GF%Rel in the black and even so, just barely. I’d imagine much of this was percentage driven though, as Tanev was suffering both a low on-ice and personal Sh%.

Scoring Chances:





The Canucks weren’t the best of teams by this metric, but they were relatively strong in this regard with Tanev on the ice. It was the smallest of steps backward by Tanev, who was even more dominant last season. I’d blame this on an increased role, though.

The high-danger scoring chance data is more-or-less in line with Tanev’s ordinary scoring chance data. I figured he would have a much larger impact in suppressing these than he actually did, but it’s still a very impressive showing.

Shot-based:





Tanev’s showing in both raw and relative shot-based metrics were at the best mark in his entire career last season – at least as a full-time defender. Tanev’s plus ability at limiting shots by the opposition drove these results, as he was the second best Canucks regular in this regard.

Going Forward

I can’t imagine there is any degree of change to the short-term future of Tanev. Barring some set of unforeseen circumstances, he’ll likely return as the Canucks defensive ace on the first pairing. Given that that Tanev will be 25 when this season starts, it’s entirely possible that we haven’t seen his best yet. Given Money Puck’s research regarding player aging and GAR, we know that a defenders peak is roughly between the 24-26 year old seasons, generally speaking. This bodes well for Tanev and the Canucks.

One of the more interesting stories to follow next season will be Tanev’s ability to stay healthy. Between the shot blocking and all the hits absorbed, there’s a tonne of mileage on this 25 year old frame. There haven’t been any serious injuries to this point, but it’s worth noting that Tanev has never lasted an entire season.





