The Toronto Maple Leafs are within the closing levels of signing John Tavares to an extension. The transfer was first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger. It was later confirmed by the participant on the Instagram web page for the John Tavares Foundation — after which by the team themselves. Dreger provides that the take care of be a four-year, $17.52M extension with an annual common worth of $4.38M.
Tavares’ extension will embody $2M in deferred wage — a follow quickly to be outlawed within the NHL’s subsequent collective bargaining settlement, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic. Johnston also shares that Tavares’ deal will carry a no-movement clause by means of the primary two seasons, and a five-team no-trade record within the closing two.
Toronto will get an necessary piece of enterprise achieved, for a worth effectively beneath what many Leafs followers anticipated. The deal is a near-$4M low cost towards Tavares’ participant worth, calculated by The Athletic’s statistician Dom Luszczyscyn. Tavares was coming off of a monstrous, seven-year, $77M contract signed with Toronto on July 1, 2018. The deal ate up 13.84% of Toronto’s cap-hit on the time and sometimes served to restrict the crew’s roster flexibility, alongside lofty offers for Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
Now age 34, Tavares will drop his cap hit by almost two-thirds and sure experience out the rest of his profession in a Maple Leafs jersey. He’s a Mississauga native, with deep roots in and across the Leafs group. That features serving because the crew’s captain from 2019 to 2024. He was changed this season by Matthews.
Tavares’ final contract was usually scrutinized, however his efficiency on the deal ought to be remembered fondly. He stuffed a hardy function because the crew’s second-line middle during the contract and totaled 222 targets and 493 factors in 515 video games. That mark ranks third on the Maple Leafs for the reason that begin of the 2018-19 season, behind Marner (611 factors in 498 video games) and Matthews (595 factors in 485 video games). Tavares additionally scored 31 factors in 51 playoff video games in that stretch — fifth on the Leafs behind Matthews, Nylander, Marner and Morgan Rielly.
Tavares has been a staple of each lineup he’s performed for. Previous to becoming a member of his hometown Maple Leafs, he was the quintessential top-line middle for the New York Islanders spanning 9 seasons. The Islanders initially drafted Tavares first-overall within the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, following the top of his distinctive standing profession within the OHL. He joined the crew instantly following his draft, and scored an impressing 54 factors in 81 video games as a rookie.
His hot-start within the NHL continued to grow-and-grow over his time with the Islanders. Tavares recorded 31 targets and 81 factors within the 2011-12 season, and topped that once more with 38 targets and 86 factors in 2014-15. By that point, he had already served two full years because the Islanders’ captain, and earned the second all-star berth of his profession. Tavares would stay New York’s captain, and a perennial All-Star, till he left the squad after the 2017-18 marketing campaign.
Tavares’ departure from Lengthy Island, NY was one of the crucial scrutinized strikes in current NHL historical past. It was seen by many as a captain abandoning his submit, with a desire for the glitz and glamour of a giant market. The Islanders have appeared in 4 of a potential six postseasons since Tavares’ departure, whereas Toronto has made the playoffs in yearly since their massive addition.
In a summer season the place Toronto appears headed for a positive breakup with celebrity winger Marner, they’ll choose to not shake the boat an excessive amount of by additionally shedding Tavares. As a substitute, Tavares will stay locked-in as Toronto’s second-line middle by means of the foreseeable future. He scored a stout 38 targets and 74 factors in 75 video games this season — his highest scoring tempo since netting 36 targets and 80 factors in 80 video games of the 2022-23 marketing campaign. These are electrical scoring totals for a participant effectively over the hill of his NHL profession. At an inexpensive worth for the following 4 seasons, even two-thirds of these scoring totals would make Tavares a contract value hanging onto.
