John Tavares Delivers Emotional Message as He Hints at Return to Maple Leafs

After the Maple Leafs lost to the Florida Panthers on Sunday night, former captain and pending free agent John Tavares wanted to give the Maple Leafs fans a bit of hope for next year, and stated his intentions for 2025-26.

Not wanting to go out the way he wanted, Tavares had a simple statement for Leafs Nation after falling to the reigning Stanley Cup Champions:

It's a great bit of leadership from the veteran, and with previous statements echoing this most recent one, it's not going to be a surprise to hear him re-sign with Toronto in the offseason.

To be honest with Tavares and the rest of the team, the showing they put forth in Game 7 was a clear sign that while it's admirable that Tavares will never give up; perhaps he should.

Not with the team per se, but with current makeup of said team.

It's time for a change.

We already saw that this past offseason and while the team was banking on the hopes of Marner and Matthews' last season, plus the new roster improvements to help them get through; it was literally the same thing we've seen forever.

At what point does Brendan Shanahan start getting some flak as well for his inability to help build a team that can actually win in the playoffs?

He's done everything possible it seems to no avail, and everything has been an abject failure.

Mitch Marner is 90% on the way out the door, and while he deserves a lot of criticism for his consistent inability to come through in Game 7, can you blame him for wanting out?

He's going to get paid enormous sums of money and will have way less media pressure.

The former captain is more than likely sticking around for the rest of his career, and while the logistics of his future contract are still up for debate, he's proven that he wants to be here and has made it known at every possible moment.

Tavares had 74 points in 75 games (38G, 36A) while also adding seven points in 13 playoff games; he is in the final year of his mega-deal he signed with Toronto and is a pending free agent.

It's a crying shame then that some of the other Maple Leafs players don't feel the same sentiment, and while #91 is hanging around; how many else will actually want to anymore?