Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly React to How Surprisingly Good Chris Tanev Really Is

Tanev was the biggest free agent acquisition the Toronto Maple Leafs made this summer. Technically, his signing rights were acquired in a trade with the Dallas Stars but then he signed a 6-year deal on the eve of free agency to solidify the back-end with a true top pairing defenseman.

The prevailing opinion was always that Tanev would be slotted next to Rielly, the all-encompassing veteran who has stood the test of time with the club through some of the toughest years in franchise history. Having had some experience together in the past when they won gold at the 2016 World Hockey Championship will help as they head into the 2024-25 season as the expected top pair.

As Evan Doerfler of The Hockey News points out, Tanev is as excited as ever about the opportunity and even though camp just started, he already feels a strong level of chemistry with Rielly:
“I think we’ve played together before, obviously not at the NHL level on a different stage, but I feel like our games gel pretty well. So good to be with him for the last two days, but we’ll see what happens going forward here,” Tanev said after practice on Friday.

 

 

Rielly was similarly complimentary of Tanev’s game, acquisition, and the idea of playing next to him in 2024-25:
“I think he’s just a great piece. I think any team in the league that adds Chris Tanev to their D-Core immediately becomes much stronger,” said Rielly.

“I had a chance to play with him before at the World Championship and so I know him. He’s a great guy, a great teammate. So I was just very excited. I think that I processed that there’s a chance that I might have a chance to play with him. But ultimately, the overarching thought was just that he just made our team better. There’s no two ways about it It’s been great. I spent a whole week skating with him. And again, I was looking forward to starting the camp.”

In case that wasn’t enough of a set-up of what’s to come in the new season, captain Auston Matthews chimed in with his thoughts on what could be a fantastic top pair:
“I’d say the same about him (Tanev),” Matthews said. “I think a lot of times you play against certain guys, and I think for him, and he’s been in the West most of the time that I’ve played against him. So when you skate with him, you realize just how good he is. He’s obviously very experienced and been around a long time. But I think offensively, I didn’t realize how well he can play offensively and transport the puck and move, and then obviously just defensively, he’s so sound.”

“His stick is very annoying, just the way he gets sticks on pucks and knocks pucks out of the air and stuff like that. He makes it really hard to kind of pass through him. But yeah, it’s been great going up against him during camp and just trying to push each other in different ways.”Things can change on a dime in training camp but for the time being, the Maple Leafs set up to have one of the best top pairs in the NHL thanks to the sure-footed Tanev sliding next to one of the more underrated defensemen in Rielly.