Ex-Leafs captain John Tavares Makes Calming Remarks Amid Troublesome Marner News
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski - USA Today Sports
Maple Leafs forward John Tavares took a very different approach to how he responded to questions about his future than Mitch Marner did this week.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were a busy bunch ahead of Friday's trade deadline as they nearly pulled off a few blockbuster trades before settling down on Scott Laughton, Brandon Carlo, and Reese Johnson.
The biggest piece of information that came out of their deadline dealings was the fact that they approached Mitch Marner to waive his NMC to accept a move to the Carolina Hurricanes for Mikko Rantanen. As was his right, Marner refused and will remain a Maple Leaf until season's end.
While most of the conversations about the off-season and unrestricted free agency revolves around Marner, there's another important pending UFA that needs to be dealt with in John Tavares.
The former captain has remained staunch in his stance about remaining in Toronto for the foreseeable future. There were reports dating back to the summer that the club had started negotiations over an extension but nothing has come out of it just yet.
Due to the nature of the business, Tavares was asked about his future with the club after news started trickling out about Marner. As is his demeanour, Tavares gave a very calm response about the whole situation, despite the intense gravity.
"I love it here. I've said that I want to stay, and the team wants to take its time, which I totally get," said Tavares. "They know how I feel and want to make things work, so there will be time for that. Right now, we're focused on earning a playoff spot and doing something special this year. That time will come."
He further added that while he would like to get things settled, the main task at hand is delivering the city of Toronto some playoff success:
"Most importantly, I'm just focused on the task at hand, and when that time comes, we'll get there, and we'll work through it. Most importantly, focus on what happened here today and learn from it. Gotta get better and ready for a big game Monday," he added.
After tallying just 65 points in 80 games last year, Tavares has quietly put up 26 goals and 55 points across 57 games, including 2 markers last night during their eventual 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
The 34-year-old is playing some impressive hockey recently with 14 goals and 30 points over his last 28 games, dating back to his hat-trick against the Buffalo Sabres that snapped a 4-game goal drought.
He won't command the same $11 million dollar AAV that he earned 7 years ago but Tavares is still putting up great numbers despite his advanced age.
With the salary cap rising exponentially over the next 3 years, it will be interesting to see if both sides can find a happy medium to keep him around for the long-haul.
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