SENSNEWS

The Senators have been linked to Chris Tanev for months now. But recently, his brother was mentioned as another player that the team could be looking at acquiring.

After a disappointing offensive season with Seattle, could Brandon Tanev be on his way to Ottawa?

Could We See Both Tanev Brothers Coming To The Ottawa Senators?

In the most recent 32 Thoughts Podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman brought up the idea of both Tanev’s coming to Ottawa. He added that this would help explain why the Senators are trying to move Mathieu Joseph and his $2.95M contract.

At the very least, this is a theory that has been going around in the NHL sphere. Contractually speaking, it would make a lot of sense as Mathieu Joseph and Brandon Tanev make similar money ($2.95M for Joseph and $3.5M for Tanev).

The two also play on the left side ideally in a bottom-six role.

It would also make sense that Brandon Tanev’s value is near an all-time low. Last season with Seattle, he scored just seven goals and nine assists for 16 points in 66 games.

He is, however, just one year removed from a 16-goal, 35-point season in 2022-2023.

What Brandon Tanev Brings To The Table

At 32 years old, Tanev is five years older than Mathieu Joseph. Factoring in his age and his contract, he isn’t going to be as valuable as Mathieu Joseph was, or at least not on the surface level.

But what Tanev will do well is play every shift at 110% and forecheck with the very best of them.

He isn’t the most physically imposing player, standing at 6’0″ and weighing 189 lbs, but he is a bulldog on loose pucks.

He can replace Joseph on the penalty kill and will also bring a responsible defensive game to the bottom six.

Fits What The Senators Are Looking For

So if we start to look at the boxes of what Ottawa is looking for, Tanev checks quite a few off.

He is someone who holds himself accountable—check. He is a veteran player and has some solid playoff experience—check. He is defensively responsible—double check. He is a highly respected, high-character individual—check.

And the cherry on top, he is the younger brother of Chris Tanev, another top target for the Ottawa Senators this off-season.

Alluring To Chris Tanev?

We already know how desperately Steve Staios and the management group want to bring in C. Tanev, and this could make the Senators’ offer that much more enticing.

The two brothers have already discussed in the past that they would love to play with each other at the NHL level. With Chris Tanev being 34 years old and Brandon being 32, the brothers are certainly running out of time to make this dream come true.

The Ottawa Senators are very likely just one of a few team that have interest in both players.

Brandon Tanev’s contract will likely scare teams away considering he only scored 16 points last season. But with just one year remaining, it isn’t a massive risk for a team to take it on.

There is also a good chance that Chris Tanev will price himself out of Dallas.

The Stars have just over $16M in cap space this offseason, but they will need to sign RFAs Thomas Harley, Ty Dellandrea, and Sam Steel to new deals, while they still have Matt Duchene, Craig Smith, Joe Pavelski (unless he retires), Jani Hakanpaa, and Scott Wedgewood as UFAs.

With Chris Tanev projected to get around $4-$5M on a new deal, that would really leave the Stars in a tough position, especially considering he is likely to be looking for some term with his next, and most likely final, contract of his career.

If he is to find himself making it to July 1st unsigned, he will have plenty of options to choose from. But the Senators have been mentioned as the most aggressive team in the pursuit of Chris Tanev and could likely offer him one of the best contracts.

Then, if you add the fact that he could potentially play with his brother, it may persuade Chris Tanev to sign in the nation’s capital.

This wouldn’t be the first time he has had an offer to come to Ottawa as well. As a college free agent, Tanev was nearly signed to the Senators before electing to go to Vancouver instead.

Part Of The Bigger Picture

For those who are looking at Brandon Tanev’s production and his $3.5M contract as a problem, there is an idea I discussed on SensNews Twitter that may make his contract an easier pill to swallow.

The general idea is this: Brandon Tanev is a $3.5M player for this upcoming season, while Chris Tanev is a UFA. By adding B. Tanev to the roster, it in theory should make Ottawa more enticing to C. Tanev (as discussed earlier).

If the Senators wanted to overpay Chris Tanev to come to Ottawa, let’s say a contract valued at $5-$5.5M. Perhaps the addition of Brandon Tanev could convince his brother to sign for closer to what he is expected to get ($4M-$4.5M).

In that case, one could think about the money spent as $7.5-$8M collectively rather than $3.5M to Brandon Tanev and $4-$4.5M for Chris Tanev. Would you rather have Chris Tanev at ($5-$5.5M) or both brothers at ($7.5-$8M)?

Then there is the possibility that Chris Tanev may not even sign in Ottawa at all unless they can offer something like playing with his brother on top of a solid contract, which we already know they are willing to do.

At the very least, it is an option worth considering. It would also change the culture among the players in a good way. Both Tanevs play extremely hard and hold themselves to a high esteem.

We know the organization wants more leadership to build the right culture, and that is two more boxes that would be checked off with the Tanev’s.