NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 21: John Tavares #91 of the New York Islanders prepares to go on to the ice for warm-ups prior to the game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Barclays Center on March 21, 2016 in Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images)
Yesterday was a huge day for the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans.
If you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard the news, then I’ll enlighten you. The Toronto Maple Leafs signed star centre John Tavares to a seven year, $77 million contract with an AAV $11 million.
The Leafs found themselves in a similar situation to this a couple of years ago when fellow star centre Steven Stamkos was a UFA. But two days before free agency, Stamkos would re-sign in Tampa Bay.
I, like many other fans, did my best not to get too excited. I got my hopes up for Stamkos and found myself heartbroken when he signed back in Tampa. This time around, I told myself to stay calm but as we got closer and closer to the deadline with Tavares not having a new contract, I couldn’t help it. And this time, it wouldn’t matter.
Shortly after noon on July 1st, the Maple Leafs announced the Tavares signing. And the internet broke. Fans went absolutely nuts and immediately started counting down the days to opening night.
I’m sure you’ve read a million other articles on the Tavares signing already, so I’m not going to elaborate too much on that. Instead, I’m going to give you guys my early opening night lineup for this coming season. These lines will be a combination of what I think the lines should be and what I think they will be.