Brandon Tanev

Brandon Tanev (born December 31, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a left winger for the Utah Mammoth of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played in the NHL for the Winnipeg Jets, Pittsburgh Penguins and Seattle Kraken.

Born in Toronto, Tanev followed his older brother Christopher Tanev into ice hockey, but both brothers were cut from their respective minor ice hockey teams for being too small at the age of 15. Tanev took some time off from the sport until he underwent a growth spurt at the end of high school. From there, he played two seasons of junior ice hockey with the Markham Waxers of the Ontario Junior Hockey League and the Surrey Eagles of the British Columbia Hockey League, respectively. After going undrafted by the NHL, Tanev spent the next four years playing college ice hockey for the Providence Friars of the Hockey East conference. He was instrumental in the Friars' championship title at the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, delivering the game-winning goal against Boston University to give Providence their first national championship in school history.

Upon graduating from Providence, Tanev signed a contract with the Jets. He spent most of the 2016–17 NHL season alternating between the NHL and the American Hockey League, but spent the following two seasons on a checking line with Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp. A free agent for the 2019–20 season, Tanev signed a contract with the Penguins, where his line with Teddy Blueger and Zach Aston-Reese was tasked with tiring out other teams' leading scorers. Tanev missed most of the 2020–21 season due to injury, rejoining the team for their short stint in the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. The Seattle Kraken selected Tanev in the 2021 NHL expansion draft, and he played with the team for the first half of their inaugural season before suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.