John Tavares rejects the Maple Leafs' tanking narrative with a defiant message to the locker room
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Every point Toronto earns hurts their draft odds, which is sure to anger fans but John Tavares doesn't care. Though his argument for why the Maple Leafs should keep competing is more compelling than those same fans might admit.
Say all you want about the Toronto Maple Leafs' amount of effort this season, but there are still guys who are grinding things out as hard as they can. Bo Groulx, Dakota Joshua, Nick Robertson; guys are still playing like it means something.
Fans are a bit peeved at that knowing the harder the Maple Leafs play, the worse their chances are of getting a top-five pick. Each point they earn gets them further from their desired draft odds, and this newfound fire is great but way too late.
Tavares rejects the safe option and notes that pride and competitiveness reign supreme
However one person who never takes the foot off the gas is John Tavares, and his comments regarding the team's recent competitive nature show that pride means a lot more to the players than losing.
Tavares explained after Toronto's 4-3 OT loss to Carolina that the reason that Toronto has put on a show recently is due to the nature of being chosen to be an NHL player:
I think, first and foremost, is how you can keep contributing to the team and us to build what we can. Find momentum, wanna play good hockey, and continue to compete. Never quit and give in.
Within that individually, you get an opportunity to play in the National Hockey League. You never take it for granted. You want to go out there and play well, and you want your game to look like your game.
Continuously to strive for that, play hard and play well, and want to continue to have a feeling we're celebrating after a hard-fought win. There's nothing much better than that in the league.
Within that individually, you get an opportunity to play in the National Hockey League. You never take it for granted. You want to go out there and play well, and you want your game to look like your game.
Continuously to strive for that, play hard and play well, and want to continue to have a feeling we're celebrating after a hard-fought win. There's nothing much better than that in the league.
That's absolutely the words of someone who was a leader for the better part of a decade and it's clear even at 35 years old that Tavares doesn't take his veteran status for granted.
He took a huge pay cut to stay here and it's obvious that regardless of the situation he wants to be part of the solution, and he's trying to show Auston Matthews that there's still some fight left in the team.
There's no safe path anymore and Toronto can't toe the line. If they want to show that fire, then do it - but do it next season too.
The Lottery Trap: Why Tavares playing the right way is the only way to save 2027's future
Now I know you're thinking, 2027? That's not the top-five pick we're all chatting about. But it's certainly one of their best foundational building blocks.
Look at what Montreal did previously. They struggled for years, compiled picks through trades for veterans, big contracts, or simply players who were good but didn't fit, and are now one of the most exciting teams in the entire league and successful to boot.
Losing on purpose is great for drafting but horrible for morale, and if the team wants guys like Easton Cowan to thrive then any toxicity in the locker room needs to be cut out; which also includes tanking.
No one likes to lose, especially guys who spent their entire lives to just get the chance.
If the Maple Leafs want to do right by themselves then they need to play with a lot of pride but they can't put in a minimal amount of effort. You're building an environment for the future.
Draft picks are part of it sure, but if you have a continual culture built around failure - will people even want to stick around?
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