John Tavares Joins Exclusive Club By Scoring His 200th Goal With Maple Leafs

A big congratulations needs to be headed toward John Tavares' way as the Maple Leafs forward ended up scoring his 200th career goal with the team on Monday afternoon.

The former captain and icon cut the lead to 2-1 Jets at the time of his goal, and in doing so he ended up joining some very exclusive company with his historic tally.

Tavares etched his name into the NHL legend book when he joined some pretty historic names to accomplish the impressive feat.

It's not easy to live up to a family name, but for John Tavares he makes it look easy. The nephew of lacrosse legend John Tavares (yes, they share a name) has been one of the NHL's greatest players over the last decade and a half.

The Islanders first overall pick in 2009, he exploded on the scene with 54 points in his rookie year, and from then it just took off. In his nine years with the Islanders he scored 272 goals and 349 assists, and finished third in MVP nominations in 2014-15.

Signing with his hometown Maple Leafs, Tavares immediately kept things going where he left off, scoring a blistering 47 goals in his first season. His production has tapered off a little bit compared to his younger days, but he's been incredible regardless.

This season he's been a big surprise given how many people initially wrote him off being in the final year of his deal and 34 years old. He snuffed out all questions to the tune of 16 goals and 17 assists including his 200th.

Joining a club that includes the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Lanny McDonald, Mark Messier, and Keith Tkachuk is no easy feat and Tavares' career deserves recognition for how he's been able to be such a force and do it so quietly.

He never gets into trouble, shows undying love and passion even in the toughest moments, and he's led the Maple Leafs as a captain with as much care as anyone in the history of the team.

Without a doubt, John Tavares will go down as one of the greatest players of the 2010's and has not only etched his name among some big NHL legends, but he's made a mark on every single Leafs fan who loves the team just as much as Tavares does.