Leafs issue major announcement regarding captain John Tavares
It would be hard to look at John Tavares' body of work since signing his 7-year, $77M deal with the Leafs back in 2018 and view the deal as anything other than a resounding success. Tavares is nearly a point-per-game player during his time in Toronto, wins an absurd amount of puck battles, cap tip pucks with the best of them and has been a faceoff machine for the Buds. The only thing left for him to do now is to bring a Stanley Cup back to Ontario's capital.
This week was a special one for the Leafs and especially for Tavares, who recorded his 999th and 1,000th points against the New York Islanders on Monday at UBS Arena. To do it in front of his father, Joe, was even more special.
When Tavares notched point #1000, the Leafs' bench cleared for a celebration with their captain and the Islanders organization even posted an image on their scoreboard to congratulate Tavares on his milestone achievement. Now, the Maple Leafs have made an announcement, revealing that they'll hold a special event to honour Tavares on December 19th in Toronto.
Typically, players who hit 1,000 career points are awarded a silver stick. At times, we have even seen teams create silver mini sticks for the player's children. With John and his wife Aryne having three little ones now, this presentation may end up being a busy one with plenty of sticks to go around.
Tavares has this season and next remaining on his current 7-year deal and there's a lot of speculation over what might occur at that point in time. Obviously, Tavares will not be making $11M on any extension as a 35-year-old, so it's possible that the team will still be able to retain their captain on a reduced salary in the summer of 2025.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 13 | 1391 ANSWERS Leafs issue major announcement regarding captain John Tavares Should the Leafs bring back John Tavares after his current deal expires? | ||
| Yes | 689 | 49.5 % |
| No | 232 | 16.7 % |
| Only if his AAV is short term at $6M or less | 470 | 33.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
