NHL Insider Pierre Lebrun Drops Shocking Take on John Tavares and the Maple Leafs

So going into the 2024-25 season, a lot of pressure was put on John Tavares to not only perform well, but perform better than his age. He's not a spring chicken anymore, and there was some serious concerns that his play would regress again this season, not to mention losing his captaincy.

Either he found the Fountain of Youth, or whatever that "secret stuff" in Space Jam was, because this season has been unbelievable for him.

Tavares has 69 points in 67 games (35G, 34A) and for a player who only put in 65 points last season, it's a huge turnaround, not to mention he did miss a few games this year as well which has prevented him from being even better.

However, with all of his success, the Maple Leafs may be in a world of trouble when it comes to discussing his contract, at least according to NHL Insider Pierre LeBrun:

The number thrown around for Tavares has been in the range of anywhere from $5M-$7.5M per season, and while he's certainly deserving of a solid pay check, there's no guarantee that he can or will continue this next year and beyond, and regardless of cap, it could be wasted money.

He's not going to sniff the $11M he's currently making, and a true hometown discount could be argued to be 50%, so he would be sitting with a potential $5.5M contract offer.

That's not a terrible deal, especially for a player who is going to be 35 in September, but the team needs to be careful not to overcommit financially or in terms of contract length, regardless of how good he's been.

There's also the issue of Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies' next deals, and while the rising salary cap helps with those as well, it also means they are going to expect more money; so Toronto has to weigh their options accordingly.

No doubt though that Tavares wants to remain a Maple Leaf for life, and if the team plays their cards right, they can have him for a lot cheaper, for the rest of his playing career (and potentially beyond).

But if he feels like he deserves only a slight pay cut, they may be weary to offer it, leaving Tavares a sitting duck for any team to come in a scoop him up.