Four years ago today, Leafs captain John Tavares came home; but has he lived up to his end of the bargain?
Four years ago today, Maple Leafs fans were cheering loud and proud as the club announced that they had signed franchise center and Mississauga's own John Tavares to a seven-year, $77 million contract. When Tavares signed with the club, he turned down better offers to play with his hometown team. Rumour had it that the Sharks tried to lure him to San Jose for as much as $13M per season.
During his first press conference with the club, Tavares alluded to "Toronto's chances as a Stanley Cup contender", as well as living out his childhood dream to play for the team he grew up cheering for. Still, to this day, some Leafs fans and others have questioned this signing, wondering if it was the right move or not. But the real question is, has John Tavares lived up to his contract four years later?
People point out that the Leafs are in a cap crunch due to this signing and others General Manager Kyle Dubas has made, but people forget that if the COVID-19 pandemic doesn't happen, the contracts of Tavares, Matthews and Marner would all look much better than we currently do (primarily Tavares and Marner). Unfortunately, this is the hand they the Leafs and every other team in the league was dealt. Nobody enjoys the flat cap, but here we are.
Going into the 2018-19 season, Tavares had high expectations placed on him by the fanbase, and by himself. However, a career year in his first season in the blue and white quickly had people forgetting about the cap hit and focusing more on the player and what he added to the team. He played in all 82 games and picked up 47 goals and 41 assists for 88 points. In addition, that season, Tavares showed what he could do with actual linemates, something that he did not have with him very often with the New York Islanders. Tavares and Marner were absolutely electric that season, leading to Marner's massive contract.
In the following season, things would be a little different, as Tavares was named captain of the Leafs but was injured for a quarter of the season. Even battling injury, he still put up good numbers in 63 games, producing 60 points.
Tavares played in all 56 games during the 2020-21 campaign and again put up decent stats with 50 points, but it was less than most were anticipating and the year was looked at as a bit of a flop for JT. Then, of course the infamous game one collision with Corey Perry that had us all holding our breath in overwhelming concern for our captain.
This past season Tavares returned seemingly without any real lingering effects of his traumatic injury and looked himself again, tallying 76 points in 79 games. Were it not for some poor puck luck in the middle of the season, Tavares may have had a realistic shot at 85-90 points.
He did, however, struggle at times in the playoffs, but ended up putting up a respectable six points in seven games. In my opinion, playoff failures aside, Tavares has lived up to his contract and has been worth every penny. In 280 games with Toronto, Tavares has put up 274. How can anyone take issue with a player who went almost a point per game over a 280-game stretch? I do think that had the Leafs won a round or two against Columbus and Montreal, we're probably not even asking the question, but here we are.
Of course, fans will always have their opinion on him and the contract, but I genuinely think when the team finally breaks through the glass ceiling that is the first round and goes on a run, he will be a key contributor, and the temperature will come down a bit on the Tavares deal. It was ABSOLUTELY the right move at the time to sign Tavares to a max-term UFA deal. Had the Leafs not done so, I'm sure 30 other teams would have jumped at the chance back in the summer of 2018. Quite simply, players of that caliber don't often make it to free agency. When they do, no matter which stage of the rebuild you're in, you have to take the chance, because it may never come up again. Especially for a hometown boy like Johnny Toronto.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 1 | 635 ANSWERS Four years ago today, Leafs captain John Tavares came home; but has he lived up to his end of the bargain? Do you think Tavares has lived up to his deal with 274 points in 280 games as a Leaf? | ||
| Definitely | 174 | 27.4 % |
| I expected more to be honest, but he's fine | 264 | 41.6 % |
| At $10M, the deal would have been great | 69 | 10.9 % |
| JT in Toronto has been disappointing | 128 | 20.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
