Heated Debate Erupts Over John Tavares' Future with the Maple Leafs
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
A heated debate erupted concerning the future of forward John Tavares, a pending unrestricted free agent, with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Not only does Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving have to decide what kind of contract would be most suitable to offer pending unrestricted free agent forward Mitch Marner but also must do the same with John Tavares.
Both players are set to hit the open market this summer but are at vastly different points in their careers; Marner's in his prime, while Tavares is toward the end of his career in a few years.
Tavares has enjoyed his best statistical output goals wise since 2022-23 and stated a strong case for himself to earn a new deal with the Leafs.
John Tavares To Sign Massive Deal? OverDrive Debates
So during today's segment of "OverDrive" on TSN, hosts Bryan Hayes, Jeff O'Neill and Jamie McLennan all debated the future of Tavares with the Maple Leafs, beginning with Hayes stating that he doesn't view this season as a contract year:
It's an incredible season, he has 35 goals and 69 points. I will say this - I don't label this as a contract year, because this is what he's done literally his whole career.
McLennan noted that eventually, Tavares' stats are going to drop off as he ages:
The other thing too, is getting ahead of it - when is the dropoff, and when does Father Time catch up? Because you don't want to be part of it for the dropoff.
Hayes then stunned both of his co-hosts by suggesting that because the Leafs don't typically win major contract negotiations, they could give Tavares a massive extension:
Generally, they buckle and say 'We can't possibly live without you'. We can't pretend that the Leafs won't go, 'Fine, here's a 5-year deal at $8 million per year.' That might happen.
As both McLennan and O'Neil scoffed at his words, Hayes doubled down.
Absolutely, it could happen. Have you been paying attention to these guys and how they operate in this front office? When have they ever won a contract negotiation?
Give me an example of when they've won with the big guys. I'm just saying, don't roll your eyes like it's impossible.
Give me an example of when they've won with the big guys. I'm just saying, don't roll your eyes like it's impossible.
As far as O'Neill is concerned, he is open to moving on from Tavares if the Leafs were to falter early in the postseason yet again:
My philosophy is that if the team doesn't have success in the playoffs - again - I want different people on the team to try and create different results.
Hayes then returned with what he feels is the bottom line of what Tavares is going to have to consider:
Do I want to make money, or do I want to play for the Leafs? That's it. It's that simple, it's not deeper than that.
In terms of contract value, Tavares has made a total of $121M throughout his career, so suffice to say that money may not be a factor after all (though the CRA may have a different argument).
He clearly wants to win with Toronto, and while the team isn't guaranteed any strong run whatsoever, they're in the best position they've been in for a long time, and if they can get hot, it could make re-signing both Tavares and Mitch Marner a bit easier.
So with that we pose the question: Maple Leafs fans, should Toronto re-sign John Tavares, especially if they experience yet another early playoff exit?
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 1 | 634 ANSWERS Heated Debate Erupts Over John Tavares' Future with the Maple Leafs Will John Tavares return to the Maple Leafs next year? | ||
| Yes | 601 | 94.8 % |
| No | 33 | 5.2 % |
| List of polls | ||