The Winnipeg Jets have one of the NHL’s two Tanev brothers. Only, I never realized there were two of them. But do they have the better one?
The Winnipeg Jets do not have the better one. Well, that’s not exactly certain. Chris Tanev of the Vancouver Canucks is a defenseman, and Brandon Tanev of the Jets is a forward.
They are definitely two different people. I suppose they’re easy to confuse since they were both undrafted and play minimal roles for teams with varying degrees of exposure (both very low).
Most of the NHL’s brothers seem to have a high-end counterpart. Jordan, Marc and Eric Staal all have some sort of fanfare. Kevin Hayes was a first rounder, whereas Jimmy Hayes just exists.
P.K. Subban is a star. Mikael Granlund, Dougie Hamilton, Nick Foligno, the Sedin twins, etc. The list goes on. I had never heard of two Tanevs. Brandon is one, and he’s actually pretty useful.
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I’m an unabashed lover of fourth liners. My favorite NHL player is Jesper Fast. I love Dominic Moore and Brian Boyle. Brandon Tanev is no Chris Thorburn, but he’s getting there.
This was a hell of a season for Brandon Tanev. He didn’t play a ton and he didn’t score a ton. Just eight goals and 18 points in 61 contests. But I love two things about his season.
First and foremost, he played all 17 playoff contests and had four goals (six total points). That’s half his season total! More than Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor.
Dude showed up in the playoffs. Is it a pattern? We’ll hopefully find out this coming season. He’s an RFA but I have no reason to believe the Jets don’t have him next season.
Oh, and my second favorite thing about Tanev? Eight goals, right? Tanev had a hat trick! Three in one game and five in 60 others. Insanity. And then four in seventeen playoff games. It’s beautiful. I love the random confusion of hockey.
I always thought Chris Tanev was an up and coming defenseman, but he seems to be just serviceable. What can you do. Brandon’s climbing the ladder as the better Tanev. Gotta love it.
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Full disclosure, I didn’t follow Tanev too well this season. I won’t make that mistake next season, regardless of where he plays. He’s a little guy, but he demands attention.