Analyst reveals the one contract that the Leafs need to move this summer; the problem is that it may not be possible
Back in the summer of 2018, the Leafs were looking ahead at a very bright future, having already qualified for the playoffs in each of the first 2 seasons of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner's tenure in Toronto. The Leafs then had an opportunity that doesn't come along all that often - to sign a former 1st overall pick who was technically still within his prime years in free agency. When those opportunities come up, you don't pass on them - even if, in hindsight, it might not have been the most wise move to have made for the long-term benefit of the team.
Obviously, it's worth mentioning that Tavares was going to get his money somewhere. Reports have since confirmed that Tavares had as much as $13M per season on the table and chose to take less to come home to Toronto, signing a 7-year deal, worth $11M per season. Leaving $14M on the table is not an insignificant chunk of change. But, in having said that, Tavares' $11M deal in combination with the two other $11M deals the Leafs reached with Matthews and Marner a short time later put the Leafs in a bit of a precarious position financially - especially after COVID flattened the cap.
With the Leafs having shown for 5 straight seasons with Tavares that it just doesn't work with the way the core is currently constructed, there's a very real chance that someone will have to move in order to find a recipe that works. With Tavares owning a full no-movement clause, however, it's probably not going to be him. With that in mind, Nick Kypreos believes that the Leafs' next GM should do everything in his power to rid the team of the final 2 years of JT's deal.
Now, Tavares has been a good soldier in Toronto. There's no question. He's been a consistently productive member of the team. He also just scored the goal that ended the Leafs' 19-year drought in the 1st round. Still, with the team's captain getting on in age, now 32 years old, his $11M cap hit is going to begin to hinder the team even more than it already has - even if he's earned it up to this point.
Could the Leafs perhaps strike a deal to send Tavares back to Long Island - a city he called home for 9 years? Would the captain consider a trade to a team like Buffalo, with how close Buffalo is to Toronto? Honestly, there's no guarantee that they'll be able to convince him to waive his NMC. There's also no guarantee that, if he did agree to waive his NMC for one team, that the return for him would be anywhere close to what it would need to be in order for the Leafs to want to do it.
We all know that, in a perfect world, the Tavares deal is the one the Leafs would prefer to move. The oldest player among the core would be going out, along with his $11M salary, minus whatever salary was coming back in the deal. But we don't live in the perfect world and Tavares has already expressed his desire to return next season. If he doesn't want to waive his NMC, that's his contractual right. We may have to face the likelihood that there is no easy out in this scenario and that we may be stuck with Tavares' $11M cap hit until the deal expires in the summer of 2025.
| POLL | ||
MAI 25 | 1186 ANSWERS Analyst reveals the one contract that the Leafs need to move this summer; the problem is that it may not be possible Will the Leafs find a way to get rid of the Tavares deal this summer? | ||
| Yes, JT will be gone | 171 | 14.4 % |
| No, it's not possible | 673 | 56.7 % |
| JT's deal isn't even the problem | 342 | 28.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
