The rise of ‘Turbo’: How Brandon Tanev became the Seattle Kraken’s cult figure

Upon hearing the question, Nathan Bastian can only chuckle. Not because of the question itself. His reaction actually has more to do with how Brandon Tanev was described within the question.

Bastian was told by a reporter that Tanev projects himself as a reserved personality whenever he does interviews after games or practices. What made Bastian chuckle is that this sounds nothing like the man he and the rest of the Seattle Kraken have come to know as “Turbo.”

“His personality is loud and there is a lot of energy and it all carries over in the room whether that is in the room, the middle of the game or a practice day,” Bastian said. “If you guys have the idea that he’s a little more reserved, that is not very accurate at all. If he’s around, you know. You love when he is in the room. He’s always got funny stuff to bring to the table. He’s in on every conversation. It’s funny you were told that maybe I am the closest guy with him on the team because he has 25 good friends in there.”

Let’s back up for a second. Is it that Tanev is in on every conversation? Or, rather, is it every conversation lately seems to be about Tanev? Expansion teams often come with a great sense of fascination because they start off facing more questions than answers. So far, the same could be said for Tanev when it comes to why he might be the most intriguing player and personality on the Kraken’s roster.

But why? Is it the shock of realizing a career bottom-six forward has suddenly shown he might be more than that? Is it that he leads the team in goals? Is it how he’s doing this? Or is it the idea nobody saw it coming? Is it the fact the team has sold more sweaters with his name than that of Jordan Eberle, Mark Giordano and Jaden Schwartz? Is it the manner in which he has developed a cult following? And how? Is it possible when Kraken general manager Ron Francis took Tanev in the expansion draft that he may have found something greater than someone who fits within their philosophy? Could it be that they found the heart and soul of their young franchise?

No one answer exists for all of those questions. To understand Tanev’s season, what he means within the dressing room and how he has become such an instant success with a brand new fan base means one must separately explore those items to grasp the full picture of what he is achieving.

Even then? It all comes with one more question: Could this just be the beginning?

His trademark look any time Tanev takes the podium is a black, long-sleeved Nike Dri-FIT athletic undershirt with holes on either shoulder, a pair of black shorts along with a pair of black socks and black shoes. Consistency in his wardrobe is soon met with questions about his consistency on the ice having just scored two goals against the Montreal Canadiens.

The first question Tanev encounters at the postgame availability is centered around his offensive production. More specifically, how is it only October and this man is just two goals away from already matching what he did last season when he scored seven goals in 32 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I think it’s just confidence in coaches surrounding me with great players,” Tanev said. “I think we have a great team, and it’s not all on me making plays. I think it’s the guys on the ice that are making the plays. We saw that tonight with Jamie Oleksiak making an unbelievable play, and I’m in a fortunate spot to get a bounce and likewise for the second one. I think we did a great job in the neutral zone and Yanni (Gourde) found me and I was fortunate enough to find some space.

“But I think it’s the guys all around the ice that are making it easy for ourselves as a team, and I think it’s a great group we have here.”

Everything Tanev said about Oleksiak making “an unbelievable play” is accurate considering the defenseman is known more for his shutdown capabilities than his ability to lead the rush. Yet one of the subtleties of that sequence is how the Canadiens were watching the puck which allowed an unchecked Tanev to skate straight to the net front for an uncontested tip-in goal that also proved to be the eventual game-winning salvo.

Assessing Tanev’s second goal means taking a few other items into account. It starts with what he said about his teammates placing him in a position to succeed. It took five seconds from the time Philipp Grubauer had the puck for possession to move to Giordano and Gourde before Tanev skated in for a point-blank chance. The location of the goal fits within Tanev’s profile of being someone who can score down low.

IcyData’s findings reveal Tanev is a serial scorer from those areas with 38 percent of his career goals being scored at the net front with another 38 percent originating from the slot. Tanev’s figures for the 2021-22 season show that 24 percent of his shots are at the net front with 33 percent coming from the slot. In terms of goals, 33 percent of them have come at the net front while 50 percent of his output to this point in the season has come from the slot.

There is also another item that allowed Tanev to be in a position to score his second goal: His speed.

“I think the speed is the biggest thing,” said Kraken defenseman Haydn Fleury when asked about Tanev’s start. “I think the fastest guy on our team and probably one of the faster guys in the league. He’s really good on the forecheck. He can hunt down a lot of pucks that most guys can’t get to based on his speed. … I think he is really good around the net. I think his offensive skills are probably a little underrated and have come to fruition here. I’m really happy for him and I hope the goals continue.”

Anyone who has arrived at Climate Pledge Arena for warmups has likely watched Tanev’s routine and received a glimpse of his speed. It starts with him skating much like any other player for about a second unit he breaks out into these random yet quick bursts that test his edgework before resetting to open up his hips and skating in a wider stance.

From there, he grabs a loose puck and begins doing stickhandling drills. In one fluid motion, he mimics an in-game situation by skating in place at a controlled speed while maneuvering the puck as if he were in traffic getting to the net before increasing the pace within a matter of seconds. He’ll then take another shot on net before flying back to the blue line to take his place before the Kraken start doing line rushes.

“Nah, his hands are slow. They’re just moving fast. I’m kidding. I’m making a joke!” Fleury quipped when asked about Tanev’s routine. “I think a lot of guys have skill that may be in the situation he was in before, he was not able to showcase that. So, I think with the opportunity he has gotten here, it’s really big for him. He seems to be thriving in the role he has here.”

Playing for the Winnipeg Jets and later the Penguins meant Tanev could move throughout the lineup. But certain opportunities were limited. He had a combined 11 or so minutes of power-play time over his 192 games with the Jets and a little more than 11 minutes on the extra-skater advantage with the Penguins, according to Natural Stat Trick. Tanev entered Monday with 3:28 in power play ice time and he already scored his first career power-play goal.

His numbers project he is on pace to be on the ice for 219 high-danger chances and 27 high-danger goals in five-on-five sequences. If those figures hold, that would easily shatter his previous career bests in those categories set during the 2018-19 season with the Jets when he was on the ice 156 high-danger chances and 18 high-danger goals in five-on-five play.

Kraken coach Dave Hakstol has shuffled his lines with the constant being that Tanev will receive heavier minutes. He is averaging 14:34 in ice time and that is already the second-highest total of his career. Yet what makes his minutes with the Kraken different are his usage. Tanev is still on pace to log more than 100 minutes on the penalty kill as part of a rotation of two-way forwards Hakstol has entrusted in those situations. An argument could be made the difference lies in how Tanev has cemented himself in the team’s top-nine rotation.

Tanev was initially on the fourth line to start the season but started moving throughout the top nine by the next game. Hakstol used numerous amalgamations but it appears he may have found something with his latest experiment. There was a moment in the 4-1 win against the Minnesota Wild when he decided to have Tanev play with Gourde and Jarnkrok on the second line.

Combining Gourde, Jarnkrok and Tanev created a line that can rely on their ability to aggressively forecheck to create scoring opportunities while playing a structured style in the defensive zone. As of Monday, they accrued around 19 minutes of five-on-five ice time and have only allowed a single goal whenever they have been together.

“That threesome, they really clicked,” Hakstol said. “Each time they went out and whatever line we put them out against, they played fast. Their hard to play against because of the pace they check at and with the puck, they are single-minded in terms of the tenacity they play with and can be pretty hard to defend as well.”

Over the course of the week, Hakstol fielded several questions about Tanev. He constantly explained how Tanev’s pace allows him to take away time and space from other teams which can create problems. There were the points that got made about how Tanev is consistently competing for pucks in a way that makes him such a reliable option for a team needing a consistent two-way presence.

Hakstol raved about the physical side of Tanev’s game. Tanev is averaging 3.5 hits per game and is on pace to set what would be a new personal best with 292 hits. Reaching that mark would give Tanev the distinction of recording more than 200 hits for the third time in four seasons. Even then, there is no recklessness in how Tanev operates considering he has only drawn more than 10 penalties in a season once in his career.

In fact, he is a plus-47 when it comes to how many he has drawn compared to how many penalties he has been assessed.

“There’s not really one thing I would put a finger on with Turbo,” Hakstol said. “He’s a guy that plays with pace. He plays hard with passion every shift. He’s got confidence when he has an opportunity. He expects to be able to find the back of the net. It’s not like he is out there hoping or looking for offensive opportunities. He’s working 200 feet and usually when you do that, good things happen and that is the way he has been generating.”

Given how much Hakstol loves his game, did he ever recruit Tanev, who played at Providence College, to the University of North Dakota?

“I don’t recall that we did, but we should have!” Hakstol said with a laugh.

Bastian is standing in one of the rubber-floored hallways in Climate Pledge Arena talking about Tanev when Tanev himself walks past him. He tells Tanev that he is actually talking about him to a reporter. Tanev laughs it off in a “yeah, uh-huh, sure” manner before Bastian gets back to explaining what makes Tanev so popular within the dressing room.

The irony of it all? Bastian said what makes Tanev so popular is that he genuinely listens and communicates with everyone.

“I didn’t really know anyone on this team to be honest,” said the 23-year-old Bastian, who was previously with the New Jersey Devils. “You hear stories of guys. What kind of character they have. I have mutual friends, friends that have good judgment and they were friends with him for good reason. It was nothing but positive things, all good things that I heard about him. All of speaks pretty true.”

How does one go about making friends in an NHL dressing room? Does it take someone like Tanev walking up to everyone and introducing himself? Or is it different than the first day of school because everyone is an NHL player and the league has but so many players at any given time?

“You definitely have that split second of introduction where he probably came up at some point and said, ‘Hey, I’m Brandon,'” Bastian said. “But obviously, I know he is Brandon. I think just the way guys are, they are polite. When we get a new player, you want to be warm and make them feel welcomed. For me, kind of being a younger guy on the team, even though I know who he is, for him to come up to me, I appreciated that.”

Brandon Tanev and Phillip Grubauer. (Steven Bisig / USA Today)

Bastian, Fleury, Giordano and Ryan Donato painted a picture of a teammate who is always talking. But not in a way that can be too much. They all say Tanev is the person who can get a dressing room going with his personality. Imagine sitting in an NHL dressing room where 24 different individuals could be speaking in smaller groups or off on their own only to have a limitless amount of energy packaged in a 6-foot frame with long, black hair bounce around the room.

He chirps everyone. But they won’t divulge which ones are the best one-liners. There could be a conversation about anything and everyone agrees that Tanev is worldly to the point he can engage anyone on any subject. Some might say the talent lies in being a social butterfly. Everyone else says Tanev’s real gift resides in the fact that he can do this for five-to-10 minutes before moving on to the next conversation.

“I mean, he is just a nice guy and it is hard not to appreciate a guy who is always positive and funny and outgoing and inclusive. That’s exactly what Brandon is,” Donato explained. “That is just a little bit of his craziness, but in a good way. He walks in and asserts his position in any given conversation and wants it to be known what his opinion is and then he will leave as soon as someone disagrees or he doesn’t care anymore!”

Fleury said there are some NHL players who act one way on the ice but are totally different in real life. He said Tanev is not one of those people and that everything about him is genuine.

Like the way Tanev allegedly reacts when Fleury beats him at golf. Everyone back home can speak at great length about Tanev’s easy-going nature. But they also went into great detail about how he wants to win at everything all the time.

“I like to chirp him about golf because I am a better golfer than him and I like to feed into that fire,” Fleury said. “I think he’s a guy that likes to get a little competitive on the golf course.”

Is Fleury a better golfer?

“Yes! And you can ask him too!” Fleury said.

How many times has Fleury beaten Tanev on the course?

“We’ve played three or four times” Fleury shared. “We tied once and I beat him the other times.”

How does Tanev react to losing?

“Let’s say it’s a really good day for me when I beat him on the golf course,” Fleury said with a grin. “I’ll just say that. He doesn’t like losing and I like beating him even more.”

Giordano has a bit of a different perspective. Remember what Bastian said about Tanev being friends with everyone? It is possible that Giordano might win the title of being Tanev’s closest friend on the team. If Tanev is leaving Climate Pledge after a practice, chances are he is walking out with Giordano. That relationship started well before they even joined the Kraken last summer.

It began when Giordano, the former Calgary Flames captain, played the 2020-21 season with Tanev’s brother, Christopher, in Calgary. They met and that is where Giordano first learned the differences between the two brothers. Christopher even admits he is a more relaxed personality compared to his energetic brother. But their friendship started to really take off when they were on the same plane with Oleksiak from Toronto to the expansion draft in Seattle.

“They look the same, but they are totally different personalities,” Giordano said of playing with both Tanev brothers.

After that, they started hanging out and spending time together during the offseason back in Toronto. That way, there was already this familiarity once they came to Seattle for captain’s practices ahead of preseason camp.

Sure. Giordano respects Tanev’s energy. But his respect is further amplified by the fact that Tanev is willing to put himself out there and risk being vulnerable with a new set of teammates he is still getting to know.

“When you’re on the road and away from the rink, you go to dinners and you get to know your teammate,” Giordano said. “He’s a guy that somehow, we are always in the same dinner group or on the bus, we sit close to each other. It’s good to develop bonds like that on the team.”

Giordano spent 15 years in Calgary where he eventually became captain and won a Norris Trophy. It reached the point that he became a fan favorite and one of those faces of the franchise. But he had several years to reach that status. Tanev has immediately become a fan favorite to the level a Kraken team spokesperson shared that his sweater is already the second-highest seller of any individual player on the roster.

Only Grubauer has sold more sweaters than Tanev.

“I didn’t know that, but that’s good to know,” Giordano said. “It’s easy for fans to relate to a player like him who works really hard. Every shift, night in and night out, he puts it all out there. I think especially here in Seattle, what I have learned so far is fans here really appreciate hard work and honesty. He’s both of those for sure.”

Giordano said nobody on the team really discusses Tanev’s popularity. But he did remark how it is noticeable. After all, the team does have an intermission “Tanev Cam” in which they post Tanev’s famed headshot side-by-side with a live video of a fan in the arena to see if they can mimic what might be one of the most beloved and memeable images in throughout the NHL.

The Tanev Cam at Climate Pledge Arena. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

So what is it that has made people already fall in love with Tanev in such a quick fashion? That all depends on who you ask.

Andrue Ryan is one of those Tanev fans who already has a sweater. He wore it during a game and explained how as a youth player in the Sno-King system why he looks up to Tanev in addition to why he is his favorite player.

“Personally, I’ve always liked him and like how he plays,” Ryan said. “I play hockey. I go off of his play style. Aggressive, fast, physical. I just like him as a player. He’s a great player overall. To be honest, I knew it was not going to be a surprise to me because I knew he was going to be a fan favorite player from how he played in Pittsburgh. I know a lot of fans want to see physical, physical plays, great plays, fast pace and that is what he brings.”

Then there are the fans who are not so local but are still following Tanev regardless of location. Austine Lee is a hockey fan who lives in The Philippines where it will be 10 a.m. if the Kraken have a 7 p.m. PST puck drop. Lee said she became a fan after reading how Tanev was an undersized, undrafted player who continued to stick with hockey en route to becoming an NHL player.

Her introduction into the game was watching the Penguins and she admitted to not noticing Tanev at first. But when she started to learn more and watch more Penguins content, that is when Tanev became too hard to ignore. Like Ryan, she was drawn in by Tanev’s energetic style and his willingness to do whatever it took to help his team win that particular play or the game as a whole.

“I think what really gets unnoticed about him is the way he does his best to bring up the morale on the bench,” Lee said. “From mic’d up videos or just content from the bench during a game, he really makes an effort to help out his team and get them more energized and focused. Whether it has to be making big hits and sacrificing his body to stop a scoring chance and get the upper hand on the opposing team. I think people tend to miss how much he strives to have a big role on the team’s support system on the ice.”

Lee said she has an aunt who lives in Seattle and asked her if she could get a Tanev sweater before they sold out. Play aside, she felt another reason Tanev was so popular was his endearing personality. She described him as a player whose demeanor is different than that of the regular hockey player while noting his charm lies in the fact that he is not this overly polished profile every time he steps in front of a camera.

“But that’s what I think is so great about him,” Lee said. “He doesn’t put up a front for the media and he just speaks passionately about hockey. You know he is not playing to break records or be the first name people think of or talk about when discussing hockey. But I do hope someday down the line he’ll be a familiar name in the Seattle Kraken’s history.”

(Top photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)