Mad respect for an Oilers fan posting this.
Calling Tanev a middle pairing defender is like calling Crosby a decent 2nd line center.
Tanev is elite defensively and the numbers and scouting reports (from experts and people who watch him on the regular) indicates that as well. Nothing says or indicates anything other than that.
If this doesn't make sense for Montreal, fair enough. But McCarron and a late 1st for one of the top end defensive defensmen in the league is laughable and not interesting to the Canucks at all.
He's 26, making 4.45 a year, right handed shot, elite defensive numbers and would be a top pairing defender on most teams in the NHL. Stop kidding yourselves its anything different than that.
edit:
http://www.stanleycupofchowder.com/...p-20-defensemen-in-the-nhl-right-now-for-real [August 2016]
"Chris Tanev is the best shutdown defenseman in the NHL. He's good at doing the defenseman things. His shot suppression prevents 0.3 goals per 60 RelTM compared to an average player. That's loads. The next highest mark by a defenseman is Brian Campbell's 0.19. That's what us fancy math nerds call an "outlier". No one is in the same tier as Tanev when it comes to shot suppression.
Why is he rarely given credit for this? Part of it is the same as Klefbom. The Canucks are **** at defending as a group, so you don't really expect them to have a star shutdown defenseman. But they do. Here he is. Existing.
The downside is, well, everything else about him, really. He's kind of **** at generating offense, below average for a D. His point production is non existent. His PP production is pretty ****. He's a really great penalty killer, though, and he eats minutes like they're wonderful pieces of salt water taffy. But that raw 5 on 5 defense that he plays just makes up for so much."
