John Tavares: The Toronto Maple Leafs Mr. Consistency

The Toronto Maple Leafs captain is once again having a stellar season.

Toronto Maple Leafs John Tavares has been one of the most consistent players in the NHL since he entered the league in 2009-10.

Since that rookie season, Tavares ranks 5th in total points in the entire NHL, ahead of likely first-ballot Hall of Famers such as Evgeni Malkin and Jonathan Toews.

Back in 2018, John Tavares set the world on fire when he left the team who drafted him, the New York Islanders, for his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and John Tavares

Tavares, now 32, is still producing at an elite level. In his time with the Islanders, he scored 272 goals and 621 points in 669 games. Good for a 0.41 goals-per-game average and a 0.93 points-per-game average.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tavares has 151 goals and 349 points in 353 games. These average out to a 0.43 goals-per-game average and a 0.98 points-per-game average. The stats are incredibly similar. (stats: NHL.com).

Typically when a star player moves from one team to another, we rarely see their stats stay this consistent. Usually, they get much better or get much worse, but Tavares has continued to be the elite player he was in New York.

In the past few years, Leafs players Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner have garnered much more media attention (as they’ve deserved) than Tavares has. In these years, Tavares has gotten somewhat overlooked, but he has shown he remains as an elite player.

In the playoffs with the Leafs, Tavares has 14 points in 19 playoff games, which isn’t spectacular, but it is solid considering how many playoff series the Leafs have struggled to score.

In last year’s playoffs, Tavares did not record a goal until game 5, but he showed up when it mattered most. He recorded a goal and an assist in game 5, 2 goals in game 6, and scored the tying goal in game 7 before it was controversially called back.

John Tavares has been a winner his entire hockey career. He has 2 World Junior gold medals, and Olympic gold medal, a World Cup gold medal, an OHL MVP, a World Junior MVP, and was a former finalist for the Hart trophy. The only thing missing, that elusive Stanley Cup.

Tavares has met the lofty expectations that were set for him back in 2009 when he was drafted first overall. He has been “Mr. Consistency” with both the Islanders and the Leafs. However, if the Leafs want to make a run at Lord Stanley, they will need their captain to be at his best. If the Leafs make a deep run this year, expect Tavares to be a big reason why.

One more thing, when it’s all said and done, regardless if he wins a cup or not, expect “Johnny T” in the Hockey Hall of Fame.