Toronto acquired Tanev's signing rights from Dallas on June 29, and he signed a contract with the organization on July 1.
When Chris Tanev signed a six-year, $27 million contract with the Maple Leafs this summer, one of the first people he reached out to was former Toronto forward, Gary Roberts.
The 34-year-old was one of several Maple Leafs who spoke with the media on Monday morning ahead of the team's annual golf tournament in Milton, Ontario. Tanev said he began training with his new teammates in Toronto a few weeks ago and added that there are a few more things to learn while living in the city.
"Just getting used to the traffic and trying to find a schedule that works," the defenseman joked.
The veteran defenseman has trained with Roberts during the summer for most of his NHL career. The former NHLer played 237 games with Toronto, scoring 83 goals and 74 assists for 157 points. Roberts also played 50 playoff games through his tenure with the Maple Leafs.
When Toronto acquired Tanev's signing rights on June 29, two days before the official start of NHL free agency, he contacted the former Maple Leaf to find out what playing in their hometown team was like.
"He had nothing but good things to say and he's extremely proud to be a Leaf. The teams he was on were quite successful," Tanev said. "I mean, they didn't end up winning but they had some good runs and good playoff series'. So, he definitely did give me some advice as I reached out to him."
What was the advice?
"Just be yourself and be good to the fans and enjoy yourself. I mean, you're definitely sort of in the spotlight more than maybe I would be in Dallas or Calgary. I mean, Vancouver's a pretty big hockey market, so I'm sort of used to the Canadian market a bit," he said. "But yeah, just be yourself and enjoy yourself. And he said the best times of his career were playing in Toronto."
Tanev signed a six-year extension with an annual average value of $4.5 million two days after being acquired by the Maple Leafs. And as a Toronto-born player, he's excited to get started with training camp in a few days.
"Obviously, you're proud to be a Leaf. You want to be on a good team, you're surrounded by really good players with a lot of talent," Tanev said. "I mean, obviously, being in Toronto comes with expectations, and that's what we'll be ready for and sort of work towards as camp starts in two days here."
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