John Tavares' New Contract Offer Finally Comes to Light
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
With news that there was an offer fielded to John Tavares, it seems the two parties are far away in negotiations and Toronto is running out of time.
There's a lot of discussion revolving around John Tavares and his future with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Will he end up staying on a steep discount, or end up testing the free agent market to try and maximize his financial potential?
Toronto and Tavares not close on deal; first contract offer revealed
Nobody knows until he puts pen to paper, but a new report from The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta shows that there was already an offer fielded to Tavares and from the sounds of it; Toronto is trying to play hardball:
Earlier today we were told the two sides aren't close, at all.
While we are still 10 days away from July 1, leaving plenty of time to iron out a new deal, it sounds like the Leafs have pitched a three-year deal worth less than $4 million per season. That won't get it done. Let's see how things progress. - David Pagnotta
While we are still 10 days away from July 1, leaving plenty of time to iron out a new deal, it sounds like the Leafs have pitched a three-year deal worth less than $4 million per season. That won't get it done. Let's see how things progress. - David Pagnotta
Look it's understandable why the Maple Leafs want to get a deal done on the cheap, but after the season Tavares put in and the precedent set by Brock Nelson; the team needs to bump that up.
Toronto needs to keep playing hardball but soften their stance a bit
It's great to see the team wanting to be a bit more frugal this offseason given they have handed out some pretty bad deals over the last few years.
But this is John Tavares, your former captain and a mainstay in the community. While he isn't worth the $11-million he once got, Toronto needs to meet him in the middle.
Hearing the team put in an offer under $12-million per season seems frankly, a bit disrespectful towards Tavares. But of course the team doesn't want to overcommit.
Brock Nelson got $7.5-million over the next three seasons, and if Toronto wants to either pay him more up front or stretch out the money a bit more, they could ostensibly offer a three-year deal worth $18.75-million ($6.25-million AAV) or a four-year deal worth $23-million ($5.75-million AAV).
It's not going to be Yanni Gourde's contract by any means, where Tavares gets under $3-million a year for the next half-decade. Perhaps they were trying to accomplish the same thing but forgot to add extra term to that initial offer.
Which is a bit bizarre considering the season Tavares put in. In 75 games he had 74 points (38G, 36A) and put up his second-most goals since coming to Toronto all those years ago.
He also became one of only five players who have scored over 200 goals for two separate franchises.
So it's only appropriate he gets an offer worth that production, and Toronto needs to get back to the drawing board if they want to keep Tavares around before that July 1 deadline.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 21 | 986 ANSWERS John Tavares' New Contract Offer Finally Comes to Light Do you think that John Tavares' contract offer was too low from the Maple Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 665 | 67.4 % |
| No | 321 | 32.6 % |
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