Will the Toronto Maple Leafs Pursue Tavares?
Could the Toronto Maple Leafs pursue John Tavares this off-season?
Surprise, surprise, another rumor involving the Toronto Maple Leafs and John Tavares. According to Hockeybuzz.com’s Eklund, the Toronto Maple Leafs are said to be considering attempting to acquire the rights to Tavares prior to the 2018 NHL draft.
The Leafs are on the verge of having one of the best teams in the NHL. With one of the NHL’s best players set to become an unrestricted free-agent, you should prepare yourself for a barrage of rumours about Tavares going home to play for the Leafs.
Should Tavares sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs, they will have undoubtedly the deepest core down the middle. Being able to write down Matthews, Tavares, and Kadri on the game sheet as your first three center’s, that a nightmare for every opposing coach to make matchups against.
Now before everyone starts ordering their Tavares jersey in the majestic blue and white, hold up and let’s think about this. I’m not saying I won’t order one if he signs with Toronto, I will be probably fly over to Toronto to buy one at the ACC, but again, hold up, let’s think this through.
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Package delivery
Sending a package for ONLY the rights to talk to John Tavares could possibly be the biggest mistake Toronto Maple Leafs management might make. I’m talking the magnitude that would make Brian Burke think he might not be so stupid after all.
With only the rights, the Toronto Maple Leafs get the opportunity to talk to Tavares first. That doesn’t stop Tavares to eventually sign with another team, even worse, with the Islanders. You can bet on it that the New York Islanders want a steep price for the rights of Tavares. Imagine that package containing a prospect and a first-round pick, just for a cup of coffee.
If Lou Lamoriello makes that deal, he’d follow up his best move of this year with the worst move of his career. It’s impossible to sign Tavares without trading away some of the young core, meaning Toronto would alter course and starts to trade for names again, however big Tavares name may be, it’s not worth it.
John Tavares
Unless Tavares is willing to sign with the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 1-year contract, which I think is unlikely he will, every scenario for getting a deal done is either impossible or stupid. Signing Tavares for a long-term contract means potentially trading away either William Nylander or Mitch Marner, both who have much more years in the NHL left than Tavares.
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Like Stamkos previously, the most likely scenario involves Tavares re-signing with his current team. Of course the thought of having Matthews and Tavares as a 1-2 punch is enticing, but in a salary cap league, I think the cost of doing so would be too high.
At the same time, it’d be hard not to get pretty excited if it actually happened.