Perfect contract.
Don't get me wrong, I love Tanev. But he is really only worth $1.5M. The only reason it is $2M is because some young guys have gotten inflated contracts. Paying $2.5M on a multi-year would have been reasonable as well, with about a $1M overpayment since if he continues to improve I see him as a Z. Michalek or P. Martin type of player and those types have gotten $4-5M, which is sure to go up if the cap continues to go up.
Things we need to see from him going forward:
-A FULL season. He has yet to put in a whole 80 games. In fact, combined with his AHL games, he has played only 68, 69, 67 and 64 games. Considering the way he plays and his body at present, his durability is suspect.
-Get hit less. He seems to take more hits than anyone else. Partly it's because he's targeted by the other team, but mostly because he holds on to the puck too long. Yes, sometimes he is doing so in order to make a play or because he's put into a bad position by a d-partner but he still has to manage this better. He can't go on in his career getting absolutely smoked every single game.
-Offensive instincts. Stanton almost tied him this year for points, while playing 14:43 compared to Tanev playing 20:44 (and neither got PP time). He has a good outlet first pass but no more so than most of our d-men to be honest. He has shown no real ability to rush it. The few times I saw him on the PP he looked rushed and nervous. I expect him to top out at high 20's or low 30's in points so I am not expecting too much of him, but he has a lot to work on in this area.
-Shot blocking selectivity. Yeah he was a machine last year but he was also responsible for tons of screens. It's not just about automatically falling in front of every shot, he has to be a little bit more selective about what he chooses to try and block.
-Attitude. Honestly, with his rumoured stance last year and his taking a one-year this year, it's obvious he thinks he should already be making $3M. Of course he has been invaluable in certain ways but in terms of longevity and offensive output I feel like he shouldn't be demanding the kind of dollars he seems to think he should.