The Toronto Maple Leafs Should Not Re-Sign John Tavares

The Toronto Maple Leafs should not make the mistake of re-signing John Tavares.

If you were to build the perfect hockey player, the Toronto Maple Leafs captain would be that player. He's a point-per-game, guaranteed 30-goal scorer who has been a leader on-and-off the ice since he was 15 years old. Despite having so much pressure on him to be great in the NHL, he's lived up to every expectation.

He's essentially just a worse version of Sidney Crosby, which is actually a compliment. The only difference is that Crosby has three Stanley Cup rings and has never screwed his franchise over by asking for more money than he deserves.

As much as we would all love to see Tavares lift the Stanley Cup as the captain of the Leafs, time is passing him by. At 34-years-old (In September), Tavares has one year remaining on his contract, which should mark his last year with the blue-and-white. Unless he wins a championship this year, he'll never get that opportunity to do it with his hometown team. At least, he shouldn't.

Tavares & Leafs Should Walk Away After This Season

It's not that I think Tavares is washed-up or that he can't still continue to be a useful player with the Leafs, but it's because of past history that I think it's time to move on. When I say past history, I'm strtictly talking about star players contracts, and playoff results. William Nylander and Auston Matthews are locked up for a while, and I'd expect them to do the same with Mitch Marner, so this team can't afford to bring all four of them back, once again, even if it's for a few bucks cheaper.

Speaking of cheaper, how much cheaper can you really sign Tavares for? If Tavares wants $3M or less to be the second-line centre on a three-year or less term, then I'd be all in favor for giving it another try, but why would he ask for that, or less? He's essentially been a point-per-game player very year, putting up somewhat comparable numbers to Steven Stamkos, who just signed a four-year deal worth $8M AAV.

Stamkos is clearly better, plus has a proven championship pedigree, but they're not that far off as players. Both players are former No. 1 overall selections in the NHL Entry Draft, drafted only one year apart and are very comparable. Stamkos has 116 goals and 271 points in his last three years (241 games), while Tavares has 92 goals and 221 points in his last seasons (239 games).

If I'm Tavares' agent, I'm starting my contract negotiations at $7M AAV and have no desire to look for anything less, especially after Toronto has already overpaid Matthews, Marner and Nylander. After seven years, why would Tavares look for anything less, especially when he knows that the team wants to strip him of his captaincy and give it to Matthews.

Tavares has been a wonderful leader and member of the Toronto Maple Leafs but the organization should not overpay his services