Tanev too?! Canucks and Flames talked about including him in trade: report

The Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames have completed a blockbuster trade, which sees Elias Lindholm coming to Vancouver. Andrei Kuzmenko, a pair of prospects, and two draft picks are heading to Calgary.

But the deal could have been even bigger.

Minutes before the trade was officially announced, multiple journalists reported that Chris Tanev could be part of the package. Ultimately he wasn’t, but TSN’s Darren Dreger confirmed that the right-shot defenceman was being talked about.

“It was thought to be better as a separate deal,” Dreger said.

The Canucks will continue trying to reacquire Tanev, who left Vancouver as a free agent in 2020, according to Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK.

“Chris Tanev was a part of these trade talks,” said Dhaliwal. “The belief is the Flames were asking for a first-round draft pick for Tanev. That’s when talks broke down for Tanev in Vancouver. The Canucks will still try on Tanev.”

Time will tell if the Canucks can bring Tanev back to Vancouver, a city he reportedly never wanted to leave. The 34-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent, and with the Flames now seemingly in a rebuild, it would seem unlikely that Tanev would return to Calgary next season.

Tanev won’t come cheap, though. There are reportedly 10 teams interested in trading for him.

The Lindholm-Kuzmenko trade opened up $650,000 in cap space for the Canucks, according to CapFriendly. Tanev makes $4.5 million annually, though Vancouver could move Nikita Zadorov ($3.75 million) to make room for him.

Stay tuned.