Tanev anything but rusty

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This article was published 16/03/2025 (185 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SEATTLE — It’s been said that the sequel is never as good as the original. Just don’t tell that to Brandon Tanev, who is already drawing rave reviews early in his second stint with the Winnipeg Jets.

The man nicknamed “Rusty” has been anything but since his return on the March 7 trade deadline, looking very much like the same player who became a fan favourite after signing as a college free agent in 2016 and spending parts of four seasons in River City.

Tanev’s first four games prior to facing the Seattle Kraken on Sunday are a perfect summary of the various ways he can make an impact: 10 hits. Four shot blocks. One assist. One goalie interference penalty. One puck to the face. Tenacious checking. Strong penalty killing work. Multiple pushes and shoves and chirps and wild-eyed faces at opposing players.

We suspect that if Tanev were a baseball player, his uniform would be covered in dirt by the second inning every night. Which is to say he loves being in the middle of the action, isn’t afraid to muck it up and get his nose dirty and go to the hard areas of the ice such as the corners and the front of the net where a heavy price is often paid.

What’s the recipe for his success?

“I guess it’s probably the consistency,” Tanev told the Free Press on Sunday, a few hours before puck drop.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to play a number of games in this league. As you get older, it’s about taking care of yourself, understanding what you are and what you bring to the team. About playing the same way every night, doing whatever the team needs.”

Now 33, Tanev has fit like a glove on a new-look fourth line that includes another versatile veteran winger in Alex Iafallo and Morgan Barron shifting to centre, where his size can really be used as an advantage. There’s been instant chemistry for the trio, including a big insurance goal by Barron (from Tanev) last Friday night in a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars.

“There was obviously a little bit of an experiment with Morgan going in the middle. That’s something we had talked about. But it just kind of fit real well with Brandon coming,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel.

“I’ve liked their energy, I like how they attack. They do sort of the yeoman’s work — the wall play, the forecheck, blocking shots, a big goal for us the other night to sort of end that game. Those are the things that you wan’t from that fourth unit.”

The “TLC” line of Tanev, Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp proved to be a handful for opponents, especially during that 2017-18 season in which the Jets finished with a franchise-record 114 points, finished second-overall in the regular season standings and made it to the Western Conference Final.

Winnipeg may now have two similar versions of that — Lowry’s line with Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton can throw a defensive blanket over the other team’s best while also tilting the ice and providing some offence, and the hope is Tanev, Iafallo and Barron can do the same.

Both lines have plenty of size, speed, skill and sandpaper.

“(On Friday) there were a couple big faceoffs where I couldn’t get Lows’s line out against the (Mikko) Rantanen and (Jamie) Benn line, because they’d just come off, and I threw those guys out and they did a good job, they really did,” said Arniel.

“That’s all part of the depth that you need when you’re playing really good hockey teams.”

After putting up a career-high 29 points (14G, 15A) with the Jets in 2018-19, Tanev was lured away by a six-year, US$21 million (US$3.5 million per season) offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins that summer in free agency. As much as the Jets would have loved to have kept him, they were facing salary cap issues and had other key players to re-sign.

Tanev was then left unprotected prior to the expansion draft in the summer of 2021 and was selected by Seattle, where his style of play caught the attention of hockey’s newest market. The Toronto product set new career highs in goals (16), assists (19) and points (35) in 2022-23 as the Kraken made the playoffs for the first time, upset defending champion Colorado in the first round and then fell to Dallas in game seven of the second round.

However, with Seattle now on track to miss the playoffs for a second straight year, general manager Ron Francis opted to grab some draft picks for several players at the deadline, including a second-rounder from Winnipeg in exchange for Tanev.

“It’s one of those things where you’re grateful for the opportunity and experience here in Seattle. Made some great friends, the organization and everyone within treated me extremely well,” he said.

“I think it helped a little bit going back to a team I was familiar with and a lot of guys there that I knew pretty well and had played with in my previous time in Winnipeg. That made the transition a lot easier.”

Tanev, who will be an unrestricted free agent again this summer, met up with some former Kraken teammates for dinner on Saturday night and admitted playing against them just nine days after the trade was a bit strange.

“I’ve never been in this (visiting dressing) room before,” he said. “It’s one of those things where it’s nice to see some old teammates and friends, but as soon as the puck drops it’s business as usual. But it’s nice to be in a familiar place so soon.”

His coach expected nothing less, joking that “we hope he can irritate them just as much as he does everyone else.”

“When you play to your identity each and every shift it helps your linemates and it certainly helps your team game. As coaches, we love to see that,” added Arniel.

Old habits do indeed die hard, which is why Tanev once again did his best “deer in headlights” pose for a new headshot taken last week by a Jets team photographer. That’s kind of become his thing after similar images from Pittsburgh and then Seattle went viral.

“I’ve got to stick with it now,” he joked. “Hockey is such a serious sport, so it’s nice to laugh and smile and have some fun once in a while.”

Which brings us to one final piece of hockey history Tanev hopes might also repeat itself — the buzz that was palpable in Winnipeg during the playoff run in the spring of 2018. Might they be able to re-create some of that magic starting next month?

“I think this group has done a great job so far this year, and we’re excited for the rest of this season and the challenges it brings,” he said.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg