Jim Rutherford got his man in free agency yesterday when he signed Brandon Tanev to a six-year 3.5 million AAV deal.
It's a little long and a little much for a player who probably profiles to play bottom-six minutes. But, don't let your anger about the contract length piss you off so much that you can't see that Tanev is a good player. He scored 14 goals last year to go along with 278 hits. He played over two minutes a night on the penalty kill. He's a good, useful player.
It also appears that his teammates like him.
If you watched the Stanley Cup Final, you know how important it is to have a good fourth line. Tanev can be part of a fourth line that looks to be better than the one the Penguins put out there last year.
Garret Wilson, bless his heart, scored two goals in 50 games. Matt Cullen had seven goals in 71 games. Tanev put up 14, and Teddy Blueger scored six goals in just 28 games. Add Domonik Simon or Zach Aston-Reese to the equation and it makes for a good 4th line.