Grading the Leafs: John Tavares
Grading the Leafs will be a new series of articles on LetsGoLeafs.com where we'll take a look at the players and how they have performed this season. These articles will take into account a wide range of criteria, including, but not limited to offensive production, defensive play, special teams impact and work ethic.
In the first article, I thought I'd begin with Maple Leafs captain John Tavares, who, prior to the pause in play and his current bout with COVID-19, was enjoying a wonderful start to the 2021-22 campaign.
Tavares has been an absolute beast for the Leafs this season, leading by example and never quitting on a play. With 32 points in 29 games this season, his 1.103 points per game rating this season is the highest in his 13-year NHL career, putting him on pace for 90 points over an 82-game season, which would have been a career best.
The Mississauga, Ontario native has built a career on elevating his linemates, stemming back to his time with the New York Islanders, where he played primarily with the likes of Kyle Okposo and Matt Moulson.
The 31-year-old has found excellent chemistry with linemate William Nylander, a dynamic skater and playmaker who has elite vision and a wicked shot. The Tavares effect is evident this season, as Nylander is on pace for the best statistical season of his career with 31 points through 30 games.
Tavares has been an effective power play contributor for the Leafs this season, scoring 10 his 32 points with the man-advantage, playing mostly down low in front of the net, looking for deflections and greasy playoff-style goals from in and around the crease.
Tavares also boasts a 60.1% win rate on the draw, which definitely helps the Leafs' possession metrics. Winning key draws is an important part of any hockey game, and Tavares wins a lot of them.
The one area of the captain's game that has been lacking this season is his takeaway to giveaway ratio. Per Hockey-Reference.com, Tavares has 30 giveaways this season and only 12 takeaways. So while his faceoff numbers add to the team's possession numbers, the fact that he gives the puck away more than twice as much as he gets it back, it probably makes for a wash in that category.
Overall grade for the 2021-22 season so far: A
Tavares is enjoying a career year in Toronto after a somewhat average 2020-21 campaign by his standards. If the season pause lasts into 2022 and Tavares is able to recover from COVID-19 without missing any additional games, and if he is able to maintain his current level of play for the remainder of this season, he could easily match or exceed the career-best 88 points that he recorded in his first season with the Leafs back in 2018-19.
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