That's not being fair to Chris Tanev. Selling out and blocking shots is only part of what makes him so effective defensively. He's also a master at steering forwards into areas that neutralize their offense and limit their options. In that respect, he's a bit of a savant.
Selling out alone gets you a player like Juulsen, who is every bit as fearless as Tanev, but nowhere near as effective.
Good post
Further to what you said his almost elite skating and pivots not just allowed for the body positioning to do the "steering" it was also a big reason he could retrieve or recover and then send a quick accurate outlet pass to get out of trouble. Which also leads to discussion about how good his hands and vision/passing was.
Add elite consistency and the willingness to never think twice about doing what it takes and you get the elite defensive player he's been.
I see a lot of Tanev in Willander myself. RD, Size, Head up at all times, Pivots, First 5 steps, Aggressive speed and footwork that steers players into making tough decisions in transition. Great stick and a blanket on the cycle with relentless pursuit. Seals players off and is strong and athletic. Limited offensive acumen and some struggles going forward with speed at puckhandling
Where the differences are for me.
Positively...TW has a much better shot. He also has a willingness to get forward at times and is effective at doing so when inspired. Tanev rarely showed an interest or willingness to be a part of the attack
Negatively...We have zero idea how the lack of time and space and physicality will effect him. He's not as relentless in how he sells out to block everything and lastly his transition passing under pressure and after a quick break up are not nearly at the Tanev level. It's decent but needs work
I repeat....We have zero idea how the lack of time and space and physicality will effect him. He'll need to get better how much better can he get?
The scouts loved this guy because he oozes intelligence competitiveness skill and athletic levels that bode well for development. He's still very much a fantastic prospect and exactly what we need if he hits.
It's fair that this year has been a little disappointing from the attacking offensive player growth to date. Unfortunately until he starts playing games on the 31st and hopefully medal round games we wont learn much from this tourney either and this expands to ASP
