3 dream defenseman for the Chicago Blackhawks to target in free agency

Chris Tanev (RD, 34 years old, 6'2 and 197 lbs)

This one would be an ideal fit for the Hawks as Tanev checks off all the boxes of what Davidson should be looking for in a defensive improvement.

He is a veteran with 14 years of NHL experience. He has played both in a top-line role as well as a depth role. He is consistently one of the NHL's best defensive defensemen and has only been a minus in one season (2015-2016 Vancouver Canucks).

Tanev would bring a voice to the locker room that the young defenseman would revere and a grittiness and toughness that Luke Richardson would love. Despite not being offensively gifted, (Tanev's best offensive season saw him post just 6 goals) he is the shutdown depth defenseman that the Hawks desperately needed last season. I still believe that Tanev has several great years left in the tank if he is played in a more limited role.

The big question mark here would be if Tanev is willing to come to a team that realistically will not give him a shot at winning the Stanley Cup during his tenure here. If Davidson can persuade him, it will be with a lot of zeros.

Remember, the Hawks will enter the offseason with $32.94 million in cap space, so they can certainly afford to offer Tanev more than any other team. Tanev had been making $4.5 million the past few seasons. I would think that for the Hawks to convince him to come, we would need to offer somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 years at $6.0 million.

If Tanev can be convinced to play out the twilight years of his career in a great hockey city, and on a young up and coming Chicago Blackhawks team, then this signing makes all the sense in the world.