[Chris Johnston] John Tavares says he wants to remain with the Leafs beyond the end of his contract this season: “Obviously I want to be here. I want to be here long term. Hopefully that happens.”
September 18, 2024
[Chris Johnston] John Tavares says he wants to remain with the Leafs beyond the end of his contract this season: “Obviously I want to be here. I want to be here long term. Hopefully that happens.”
30 comments
Alright Johnny T
If it is a reasonable contract I’m all for bringing John back.
At 1.15milx6 John Tavares, you are (still) a Leaf!
JT needs to retire a Leaf. Do something like 3 years for 5.5, then go from there
6 years at 3m a year, with a wink that he retires after year 3 to Robidas Island.
JT takes his health pretty seriously, I think he will play to 37-38. Hopefully a nice 4 year deal and then some league mins to finish his career off with the leafs.
Extend his contract. He deserves it. Awesome player.
Didn’t he say the same thing with the isles?
6×3mil and we good Johnny!
Tavares at 5m is going to hit like crack
He’s our Bergeron, gonna wait until everyone else signs and fill the gap.
4X4 seems fair to me.
Everyone saying 3 or 4 years but I’d be fine to make it 8 to keep the cap extremely low.
If he wants 5-6 million we’ll have to wait until the season is over because that’s a lot to offer a 3C who is declining
Take a nice little pay cut ?
Anyone on this sub who thinks Tavares should sign for $4M or less is severely undervaluing how good of a player he still is, and/or thinking his career-low S% season is likely to repeat.
If he takes less than ROR, that would be great
Take a Gio deal, you’ve made your money.
At a much lower cap hit, he should retire a Leaf.
As much as it would suck to repeat the Stamkos fiasco in Tampa, it makes sense to wait out his contract this year and see how he performs. JT has slowed down and we’re pretty close to the point in his career where every year could be his last. His next contract will be at 34 years old. Given he wants to stay and seems to want to do so at a reasonable rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had an agreement to review his contract in the new year or at some point before playoffs.
Not sure if we’re at the point where we go year to year, but if I’m the Leafs I’d acknowledge his value on the open market is probably $7 million for a single year. From there, I’d tell him where we could spend the extra $1.5-2.5 million if he took a deal and hope he values a playoff run more than the bucks. If he doesn’t, we let him go and hope to do better with Max Domi as our 2C and spend the $7 million he’s asking for on better bottom sixers
Johnny is an awesome player and should still be named captain. Man is a play maker , even with his slow speed I believe he was 4th in points for the team ?.
Seeing clips of him in the locker room during the playoffs , that’s the Johnny you don’t see in the media, man is fired up and commanding the room and I really believe Matthews doesn’t command the room, people might not argue with him because he has the C on his chest but he’s not someone I think the team can rally behind, hell kid can’t even fight for his team and it looks like he won’t have uncle Gio there to save him.
If you want that to happen take a team friendly deal. We would love him at the right number.
How funny would it be if he didn’t re-sign and went back to the Islanders?
What would the reaction among both fanbases be?
Which should surprise no one.
Hometown discount, plus being 3C for the next bit. Good news.
This is tough…
He has very low versatility.
Top 6 scorer but no legs for first 2 lines.
Can’t be a 3rd line center or a defensive winger on the 3rd. He can’t shutdown what he can’t catch.
4th line..nope
I’m hopeful JT signs a team friendly contract just like Crosby just did for the Pens.
JT has been remarkably consistent offensively for the Leafs. He’s entering the phase of his career where his numbers are likely to dip but other aspects of his game are stronger than ever. He also seems like a genuinely good dude and I love him as a Leaf. Hope he will take a home town discount and retire here.
3×3
At a lower cap hit he’s a great player. It’s the contract and wanting him to be a superstar that hurts his value.
JT is a great pro, who is smart and still possesses a nice shot. However many aspects of his game, including his foot speed has slowed down. Tavares should no longer playing center on the 2nd line of a Stanley Cup chasing team which leaves 2nd line wing/3rd line center. Let’s be clear, Tavares will not be getting any better than what he has recently shown and there will be further decline.
Given the above, I would be ok with a 2 year deal (3rd maybe with team option) for somewhere between 2-3M. Anything higher or longer and the Leafs are better off looking internally or in free agency.
Taking a run at McDavid in 2026 without the Tavares contract is a real possibility.
30 comments
Alright Johnny T
If it is a reasonable contract I’m all for bringing John back.
At 1.15milx6 John Tavares, you are (still) a Leaf!
JT needs to retire a Leaf. Do something like 3 years for 5.5, then go from there
6 years at 3m a year, with a wink that he retires after year 3 to Robidas Island.
JT takes his health pretty seriously, I think he will play to 37-38. Hopefully a nice 4 year deal and then some league mins to finish his career off with the leafs.
Extend his contract. He deserves it. Awesome player.
Didn’t he say the same thing with the isles?
6×3mil and we good Johnny!
Tavares at 5m is going to hit like crack
He’s our Bergeron, gonna wait until everyone else signs and fill the gap.
4X4 seems fair to me.
Everyone saying 3 or 4 years but I’d be fine to make it 8 to keep the cap extremely low.
If he wants 5-6 million we’ll have to wait until the season is over because that’s a lot to offer a 3C who is declining
Take a nice little pay cut ?
Anyone on this sub who thinks Tavares should sign for $4M or less is severely undervaluing how good of a player he still is, and/or thinking his career-low S% season is likely to repeat.
If he takes less than ROR, that would be great
Take a Gio deal, you’ve made your money.
At a much lower cap hit, he should retire a Leaf.
As much as it would suck to repeat the Stamkos fiasco in Tampa, it makes sense to wait out his contract this year and see how he performs. JT has slowed down and we’re pretty close to the point in his career where every year could be his last. His next contract will be at 34 years old. Given he wants to stay and seems to want to do so at a reasonable rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had an agreement to review his contract in the new year or at some point before playoffs.
Not sure if we’re at the point where we go year to year, but if I’m the Leafs I’d acknowledge his value on the open market is probably $7 million for a single year. From there, I’d tell him where we could spend the extra $1.5-2.5 million if he took a deal and hope he values a playoff run more than the bucks. If he doesn’t, we let him go and hope to do better with Max Domi as our 2C and spend the $7 million he’s asking for on better bottom sixers
Johnny is an awesome player and should still be named captain. Man is a play maker , even with his slow speed I believe he was 4th in points for the team ?.
Seeing clips of him in the locker room during the playoffs , that’s the Johnny you don’t see in the media, man is fired up and commanding the room and I really believe Matthews doesn’t command the room, people might not argue with him because he has the C on his chest but he’s not someone I think the team can rally behind, hell kid can’t even fight for his team and it looks like he won’t have uncle Gio there to save him.
If you want that to happen take a team friendly deal. We would love him at the right number.
How funny would it be if he didn’t re-sign and went back to the Islanders?
What would the reaction among both fanbases be?
Which should surprise no one.
Hometown discount, plus being 3C for the next bit. Good news.
This is tough…
He has very low versatility.
Top 6 scorer but no legs for first 2 lines.
Can’t be a 3rd line center or a defensive winger on the 3rd. He can’t shutdown what he can’t catch.
4th line..nope
I’m hopeful JT signs a team friendly contract just like Crosby just did for the Pens.
JT has been remarkably consistent offensively for the Leafs. He’s entering the phase of his career where his numbers are likely to dip but other aspects of his game are stronger than ever. He also seems like a genuinely good dude and I love him as a Leaf. Hope he will take a home town discount and retire here.
3×3
At a lower cap hit he’s a great player. It’s the contract and wanting him to be a superstar that hurts his value.
JT is a great pro, who is smart and still possesses a nice shot. However many aspects of his game, including his foot speed has slowed down. Tavares should no longer playing center on the 2nd line of a Stanley Cup chasing team which leaves 2nd line wing/3rd line center. Let’s be clear, Tavares will not be getting any better than what he has recently shown and there will be further decline.
Given the above, I would be ok with a 2 year deal (3rd maybe with team option) for somewhere between 2-3M. Anything higher or longer and the Leafs are better off looking internally or in free agency.
Taking a run at McDavid in 2026 without the Tavares contract is a real possibility.