The Leafs have a big decision to make this summer regarding their captain
Saturday night's Leafs/Red Wings game is one where the goaltenders may as well have just stayed home. The Leafs were able to skate away with a 10-7 victory (yes, you read that correctly), but had blown a 7-2 lead in the third period to make the game much closer than it needed to be.
While the goalies were certainly an important plot point in the story, the three lead characters were Mitch Marner, Michael Bunting and Auston Matthews, who combined for 15 points in the victory.
Marner led the way with 4 goals and 2 assists, totaling 6 points on the evening. Bunting notched 1 goal and 4 assists for the first 5-point night of his NHL career, and Auston Matthews scored once to re-take the NHL's goal scoring lead, also racking up 3 assists for a 4-point game of his own. What a night from the Leafs' top line.
Perhaps the most alarming storyline in his game is that of Leafs captain John Tavares, who did not register a point in the high-scoring affair. the Leafs' captain has now been held scoreless for 12 consecutive games and has just 3 goals in his last 20 games.
The 31-year-old does have 8 points in his last 10 games, all assists, and 48 points in 51 games this season, but his inability to find the back of the net is certainly concerning. Tavares has not scored since January 29th against, ironically enough, the Detroit Red Wings.
With 3 more seasons after this one at $11M, the Leafs don't exactly have the luxury of being able to afford a rapid drop off in the overall quality of Tavares' play. There's just too much invested there. The team took a big gamble when they brought Tavares in and subsequently signed Nylander, Matthews and Marner to their own sizeable deals. With so much of the cap tied up in four players, the Buds simply can't afford to have one playing below his pay grade.
Aside from JT's 17 goals and 48 points in 51 games, here's how the rest of the "core four" stack up:
Auston Matthews - 37 goals and 68 points in 49 games
Mitch Marner - 21 goals and 54 points in 43 games
William Nylander - 20 goals and 48 points in 52 games
So, essentially, the only player who Tavares has even come close to this season in terms of his overall production is Nylander - who has more goals and earns $4M less per season. JT does add a lot of intangibles, like his ability to win puck battles along the wall, his penchant for tipping pucks in front of the net and his affinity for winning important draws.
There are still 30 games left to play in the regular season for the Buds, so JT still has plenty of time to find his consistency before the playoffs begin.
It's worth noting that Tavares does hold a full no-movement clause in his contract. The big question is; if the Leafs believe that Tavares is starting to slow down, do they ask him to waive his NMC?
| POLL | ||
27 FEVRIER | 646 ANSWERS The Leafs have a big decision to make this summer regarding their captain Should the Leafs at least ask Tavares to waive his NMC this summer? | ||
| Yes | 337 | 52.2 % |
| No | 309 | 47.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
