John Tavares
Age: 33
Height/Weight: 6’1, 215 LBS
Contract: Two years left, expires end of 2024-25 season. $11 million cap-hit.
Draft: 1st Overall, 2009, New York Islanders
Acquired: Signed as UFA
Role: 2nd Line Centre
Career Highs: 47 Goals, 88 Points, 2018-19 in his first year with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Last Year’s Scoring: 36 goals, 44 assists, 80 points in 80 games.
Last Year 5v5 Scoring/ Rate: 16 Goals 37 Points. 2.09 P/60 (Anything over 2 is first-line scoring)
On-Ice 5v5 Stats: Cori-For 52% ; Shots-For 53%; Scoring-Chances-For 56% Goals-For 53% Expected Goals 54%
Status: #2 Centre on the Toronto Maple Leafs, a #1 on most teams. Tavares hasn’t really slowed much with age, which makes sense because his game was never based on speed.
Expectations: Avoid declining and win a Stanley Cup before his contract expires. Elite players tend to age well, so another 80 points and 35 goals is the expectation.
Notes: The Year Tavares scored 33 5v5 goals he also shot 16% which is way higher than the normal 10%ish shooting that he as mostly done throughout his career.
He is still an elite player and like Marner, the lack of playoff success has hurt his reputation.
A final renaissance year in which he flirts with 50 goals and leads the Leafs to the Stanley Cup is not out of the question.