According to TSN and The Athletic insider Pierre LeBrun, the Maple Leafs remain interested in defenseman Chris Tanev.

It appears as though the Maple Leafs remain on the hunt for a defenseman ahead of the NHL trade deadline on Mar. 8.

During the Tuesday-edition of TSN's Insider Trading, NHL insider Pierre LeBrun reported that the price tag for Calgary Flames defenseman Chris Tanev is a second-round pick and an asset.

However, for a team like Toronto, who doesn't have their second-round pick for the next three seasons, they'll need to pay up more.

"Now, as I mentioned last week, the price right now from Calgary, our understanding is, a second-round pick plus another asset, which could be okay for some teams. But a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs, which continues to have interest in Chris Tanev, doesn't have a second-round pick for the next three years," LeBrun reported. 

"So, it's been made fairly clear to them, from Calgary I believe, that the price is a first-round pick if they want Chris Tanev. Not sure whether or not Brad Treliving of the Leafs is weathered to pay that or not."

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LeBrun continued — in his most recent column in The Athletic — stating that if the Maple Leafs were to go down the road of paying that price for Tanev, they'd need to have some trust that they could sign the defenseman long-term.

"I just don’t know if that’s a price Leafs GM Brad Treliving will want to pay or not. And if he does, I would imagine he would have some level of confidence he can re-sign Tanev before July 1."

The 34-year-old defenseman is in the final year of a four-year, $18 million deal he signed with the Flames back in Oct. 2020. His contract carries an annual average value of $4.5 million, meaning to bring Tanev in, Toronto would need to move some salary out.

Tanev has been one of Calgary's most relied upon defensemen this season. In 47 games this season, the right-shot defender has one goal and eight assists while averaging 19:42 of ice time in each game.

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