He should have never left Vancouver, just another casualty of that complete imbecile named Jimothy Benning.
His contributions were always undervalued by even Canucks fans, and as the roster turned over during the "rebuild", he became an important veteran off the ice (see: "dad").
Make it right, Allvin.
Not only would I want Tanev back from a fans stand point, but I would do it just to keep the captain happy. Keep making Hughes happy and he may resign without hesitation in a few years when his contract expires. Avoid any future delays like we're currently having with Pettersson.
Tanev would be a welcomed addition to the roster. He should of never been forced to leave in the first place, but our brain dead GM at the time was so enamored with OEL, he left the most important defenseman on our roster hanging. So stupid.
Agreed he should have never left Vancouver. But as a Flames fan, I'm glad we got an opportunity to have a guy like Tanev on our team.
For the other Vancouver posters worried about Tanev's health. Nah. He's good. Look at his stats in Calgary. He'll age nice from a #3 to #5 dman no problem as long as you don't deploy him as a #2 in a Travis Green like d zone system. That's basically putting him in front of a firing squad. The dude is insane and he will throw his body out there for anything. Yes, Tanev missed many games under Green because he's a fricken warrior, but IIRC, most of the other dmen were also missing a ton of games because they all endured insane shot blocking requirements. Once Green was gone, I think man games lost decreased dramatically across the board (IIRC the data correctly). But Tanev was already basically out of that system.
Besides, Tanev's contracts compared to other dmen have always seemed to factor in the man games lost. I'm sure Vancouver could get him back for basically a home town discount, and his age/health ratio actually means he'd be a great mentor working his way back up from the 3rd pairing (ie: Sheltered if after injury) and also give younger dmen more opportunities for ice time to develop. If anything, Tanev's age, man games lost and ability to mentor on and off the ice facet makes him a better fit for the Canucks than a purely healthy one. Teaching young guys how to deal with injuries appropriately is very important. Quite a few guys who did well in Calgary within the last decade had their career cut short to injuries and it really sucks to see (ie: Colborne, Bouma, Monahan, Ferland etc.).
A completely healthy vet laden core is terrible for prospect opportunity. We've seen it here a lot in Calgary. D prospects being sheltered by Tanev knowing they have to up their game for when Tanev needs to take a step back for repairs isn't a bad development system and mentality to have IMO.