RUMOR: Canucks' defenseman to Toronto

According to Mike Halford from the Athletic, he stated that the Vancouver Canucks and the Toronto Maple Leafs could make a massive deal ahead of the trade deadline coming this February.

Halford stated that the Toronto Maple Leafs are very interested in Canucks' Chris Tanev. As we all know, Tanev was paired up with Toronto's Morgan Rielly this past World Championship and the results were rather very good with the two paired on the same defensive line.

Throughout the World Championship, Tanev and Rielly formed Canada's top defensive pair. They did great work as the team limited its opposition to just 11 goals scored in 10 games.

After the WC, many players such as Brendan Gallagher of the Montréal Canadiens, Mark Stone of the Ottawa Senators were impressed with Tanev's consistency night after night.

On defense, I was pretty impressed with Tanev, two-way demon Mark Stone of the Ottawa Senators concurred. You look at his numbers, I think he gets 20-25 points a year, but he does a lot of things that help your team win. He was probably our most steady defenceman from a defensive perspective all tournament.

Considering Stone has teammates such as Erik Karlsson, that is an enormous praise for the Young 27 year old defenseman. Halford also stated that Tanev attracted a lot of attention by Leafs' management during games and at the WC.

I was flying back with (Tanev’s defence partner) Morgan Rielly and we were talking about just how good of a player he is, Montréal Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher told TSN 1040 in Vancouver. He was so consistent for us night after night.

The Toronto connection has been mentioned on numerous occasions. Tanev paired well with Morgan Rielly for Canada at the Worlds, the Leafs have defensive issues, and they're certainly a team looking to make noise this post-season. What's more, they've got a bounty of good young prospects that, because of the club's tremendous depth, may never get a chance to play a prominent role in Toronto.

What should the Leafs offer for Tanev? A first rounder, some prospects or even Kasperi Kapanen?

Should the Maple Leafs trade for Tanev?