Leafs GM Brad Treliving reveals shocking truth behind Chris Tanev trade

PUBLICATION

Tyler Ball
June 30, 2024 (2:53 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Chris Tanev's rights at the NHL Draft and today more information has come out about the trade.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been looking to improve on defense for several seasons now. Most of the moves they have made in recent years have not worked out well. Now they have brought in Chris Tanev in a trade with the Dallas Stars.

The @MapleLeafs have acquired the rights to Chris Tanev!

Despite trading for Chris Tanev the Toronto Maple Leafs still have not agreed to a contract with the veteran defenseman. Today a new video dropped explaining where things are in the process. According to Chris Tanev's agent Wade Arnott the two sides had not spoken at the time of the trade.

That is yet to be revealed. We probably won't hear that for a couple of days. But Darius, again, if you missed the trade, it's Chris Tanev for a 7th, not a 6th. It is a 7th and the expiring contract of Max Ellis. But this is the interesting thing. So Chris Tanev's agent, Wade Arnott, says there's no agreement at the moment with the Leafs.

The original thought of many fans was that the Maple Leafs made this trade so they could give him a contract that is 8 years instead of 7. However, that will not be the case and they acquired his rights just to have exclusive negotiating time.

It's going to be interesting to see where Brad Treliving does and gets creative with this because originally I thought it was so they could offer him eight years, but now it's leaning more towards they just wanted more time to sign him and talk to his agent, get something done that's a little more creative, and I think he might end up being signed before July 1.

The Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves in a time crunch to get this deal done. We are just over 24 hours from free agency and still no Chris Tanev extension exists. However, reports believe that if the Maple Leafs can sign Chris Tanev it could lure other free agents to Toronto.

Signing Chris Tanev could be the key to overhauling the Maple Leafs defense

The video continues on and talks about the ripple effect that the signing of Chris Tanev could have. Bringing in Chris Tanev could entice players like his former teammate Nikita Zadorov to sign in Toronto and reunite with Chris Tanev.

Maybe they signed him like you mentioned before, July 1 on Monday, and then they get to work signing another player like Nikita Zadorov. And now maybe the Leafs become more intriguing to other free agents because they have a more competitive blue line. Zadorov and Tanev played together before. Makes some sense there.

Heading into NHL Free Agency the Maple Leafs number one priority needs to be re-signing Chris Tanev. If they fail to do so Brad Treliving's tenure as General Manager could be on the rocks before he even signs a free agent.