John Tavares Signs 7 Year, $77 Million Dollar Deal with Maple Leafs

John Tavares has signed a 7 year, $77 million dollar contract with an average salary of $11 million per year. He was drafted first overall in the 2009 NHL entry draft and had been with New York for his entire nine year career. He was also captain of the Islanders for his last five years with the organization. He gained the captaincy during the 2013 offseason after veteran defenseman Mark Streit was traded to the Flyers.

Tavares reportedly met with the Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins, the Dallas Stars, the San Jose Sharks, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and his former team the New York Islanders. He ended up deciding between the Sharks and the Maple Leafs but ultimately went with hometown Maple Leafs.

Tavares will join a Maple Leafs team filled with young talent in Auston Matthews Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Connor Brown and Kasperi Kapanen. He will help Toronto to take the next step as the previous two years had resulted in first round losses to Washington and Boston. Tavares is an elite center which are hard to come by in the NHL.

This was apparent during the 2018 NHL entry draft as right-wing Filip Zadina was projected to be drafted third overall by the Montreal Canadiens. He ended up being drafted sixth overall by the Detroit Red Wings after Montreal, Ottawa, and Arizona all passed on Zadina for lower-projected centers. (While Brady Tkachuk is predominantly a left-winger, he does have experience playing center.) The Leafs now have the center depth of stanley cup contending teams. They have two untouchable players in Auston Matthews and John Tavares while also having Nazem Kadri. Some notable center combinations include the Penguins former combination of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Nick Bonino, the Ducks combination of Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler, and Adam Henrique, the Jets former combination of Mark Scheifele, Bryan Little, and Paul Stastny, and lastly the Sharks combination of Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, and Tomas Hertl.

However, the addition of Tavares comes at a cost as he is owed $11 million per season for the next seven years. With the salary on the rise, Tavares’ salary is realistic for players of his caliber. His salary is between Jack Eichel’s ($10 million per year) and Connor McDavid’s ($12.5 million per year). The only negative with this massive deal is that general manager Kyle Dubas was unable to sign James van Riemsdyk. Van Riemsdyk was a large part of the Leafs powerplay as he had eleven goals on the man advantage. He helped Toronto obtain the eighth best powerplay last season with a 25% conversion rate. While it was the right move to let Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov (who signed immense deals with the St. Louis Blues and the New York Islanders) in free agency, Patrick Marleau, who played on the second line is only getting older. Van Riemsdyk would’ve been the clear replacement for him, considering he had 36 goals on the third line with sub-par players in Tyler Bozak and Kasperi Kapanen. Andreas Johnsson showed that he was capable of a bottom six role in the nine regular season games and six playoff games he played in. While he did only have 3 points in nine regular season games, he generally played well. Furthermore, he had a large impact in extending Toronto’s first round series with Boston to seven games. He played in a top-six role during his time with the Marlies and had an impressive 54 points in 54 games to go along with 24 points in 16 playoff games. While he showed potential in his previous season, there is some uncertainty about if he can sustain those numbers in the NHL. He hasn’t shown that he is capable of a top six role in the NHL (though, Mike Babcock only played him on the third line last season). This offseason, the Maple Leafs resigned Johnsson to a one year, two way deal which further illustrates the uncertainty with him. Currently, Patrick Marleau and Zach Hyman are the only two left wingers on the Leafs with experience on the top six. When Marleau does retire in the near future, Johnsson will have to make most of his opportunity.

Meanwhile for the Islanders, Mathew Barzal will likely take over Tavares as their number one center. Barzal won the Calder Trophy last season, as the NHL’s top rookie. He had 63 assists, good for fifth best in the league, and an above point per game rate of 85 points. Either Brock Nelson or Anthony Beauvillier could take over the second line role Barzal had last season. Nelson has previously played on the second line but was downgraded to the third and sometimes fourth line by former head coach Doug Weight. Nelson had a down season for his standards but for a bottom six player had an admirable 19 goals and 35 points. Beauvillier’s numbers are similar to Nelson’s, with 21 goals and 36 points. However, Beauvillier is only 21 and has much more potential than Nelson (26). Beauvillier is also a two way player which is something important in a center. He may have played left wing for the majority of last season but has played as a center for the rest of his career. Last season, he told Brian Compton, co-host of the Isle Seat Podcast that “he’d prefer to play center.” Whoever ends up being the Islanders second line center, the Islanders seem to be in a better direction with new head coach Barry Trotz and new general manager Lou Lamoriello.

The singing of John Tavares shows that Toronto is all in for their quest for the Stanley Cup. They went from a rebuilding team to a stanley cup contender. They are considered to be on the same level of elite teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Washington Capitals. They are now favorited by many to win the stanley cup, as expectations are now higher than first round exits. While Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and WIlliam Nylander are still on their entry contracts and are very young, a stanley cup win is the goal and anything short of this will be a disappointment and a failure.

The Maple Leafs now have the potential to be a dynasty for many years to come.