Adam Proteau reacts to the latest Toronto Maple Leafs trade.

The Toronto Maple Leafs got a head start on negotiations with defenseman Chris Tanev, and they got him signed to a six-year contract before NHL free agency opened at noon ET.

Tanev's contract has a $4.5-million cap hit. It expires after the 2029-30 season.

The 34-year-old from Toronto played last season with the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars, but the Leafs acquired his signing rights on Saturday for a 2026 seventh-round pick and prospect Max Ellis (who is now a UFA). Tanev had 17 assists and 19 points in 75 games with another two assists in the playoffs, but he's a defensive right-shot blueliner.

Tanev may have only had 45 hits in 2023-24, but he had the third-most shot blocks in the NHL, with 207. The two players who had more, Colton Parayko with 218 and Moritz Seider with 212, played seven more games than Tanev and averaged about three to four minutes of ice time per game more than Tanev's 19:41.

In Tanev's 792 career NHL games between the Vancouver Canucks, Flames and Stars, he's had 33 goals, 157 assists, 190 points and 1,652 blocked shots. He also has 13 points and 179 blocked shots in 60 career playoff games.

Tanev is a solid addition to the Leafs' defense group, which needed another defense-first player who can play strong on the penalty kill as well. The big questions become whether he can remain effective until he's 41 years old, when the contract expires, and whether the Maple Leafs signed that contract expecting him to remain effective until then. While injuries shouldn't ever be expected, he's only played 82 games in a season once in his career, although he did play all his team's games in the shortened 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns.

What will happen in the later years of the contract is anyone's guess, but for now, Tanev should be a big boost for the Maple Leafs as they try to go deeper in the playoffs next year.

Toronto Maple Leafs Sign Chris Tanev to Six-Year Deal