How are you feeling about Tavares these days?

[All Mod Cons]

The way he sat on the bench petrified to look in the direction of Brad Marchand sums him up as a person and a leader

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

since nobody stood up for Liljegren should we take away the C and A's from everyone and have none?

Liljegren also wasn't ran, he was tripped into the boards.

That's not a bad idea.

Maybe trade one of them too. Tavares would be a good choice. Hopefully he wouldn't want to be here after they removed the "C" from him anyway.

Leaders lead.

Right now nobody is leading. At best it's the blind leading the blind. Or maybe it's the other way around.

Either way there's no leadership with this team.

 

[IPS]

Feel it's a good time to bump this.

This guy is straight dead cap nowadays and it's horrible. 5 points in his last 13 games and one of the worst defensive players on the team.

He seems to start of well before declining, but I'm not worried about him. Even when he does tail off, he'll still produce. One of the least of the issues on this team.

He's tailing off as we speak! And he ain't producing!

He is in fact a very large issue on the team rn.

 

[Stephen]

For me the second half of the Tavares contract has been about a soft landing. Balancing between his on ice effectiveness vs stats line productivity. Lately, Tavares has been nosediving in both categories while being exposed from a leadership POV. The guy is just not very good, at a third line level right now. His contract cannot end fast enough.

I look to the Tampa play on Stamkos to offer some clues as to how a team manages to move on from a captain.

 

[ACC1224]

For me the second half of the Tavares contract has been about a soft landing. Balancing between his on ice effectiveness vs stats line productivity. Lately, Tavares has been nosediving in both categories while being exposed from a leadership POV. The guy is just not very good, at a third line level right now. His contract cannot end fast enough.

I look to the Tampa play on Stamkos to offer some clues as to how a team manages to move on from a captain.

I doubt Tampa moves on from Stamkos

 

[BallardEra]

I doubt Tampa moves on from Stamkos

There is a good chance they do.

I only see it working out if he truly wants to stay there at a much cheaper price than he can get elsewhere.

 

[Suntouchable13]

We all thought that Leafs would have done some damage in the playoffs by now. We knew that the last couple of years of his contract might be rough. Now they have to compete with this boat anchor having not accomplished much during his better years.

 

[MarMarSab3]

It's tough sledding out there for Tavares, he's playing at the level of a 3LW, is presently about 7 million dollars overpaid, slow and average to mediocre defensively depending on the night.

 

[ACC1224]

He took an absolute beating last night, felt sorry for him.

 

[CapspaceKiller]

He had a really good start, but now looks like like he's skating in quicksand. Slow as molasses. "No finish" Bertuzzi isn't helping him anywhere either.

 

[wingman75]

We all thought that Leafs would have done some damage in the playoffs by now. We knew that the last couple of years of his contract might be rough. Now they have to compete with this boat anchor having not accomplished much during his better years.

Exactly. This issue is exacerbated by the fact we are now trying to win in the final years of this contract, which was really never part of the plan. The true failure is not in these final two seasons, but in the 4 that preceded it with no cup!!

 

[IPS]

It's tough sledding out there for Tavares, he's playing at the level of a 3LW, is presently about 7 million dollars overpaid, slow and average to mediocre defensively depending on the night.

For all the criticism about Tre's offseason acqusisions and how they aren't playing up to snuff (it's valid criticism) the biggest cap problem on the team is unquestionably the $11M captain. Even the version of JT last year trumps this one.

 

[hotpaws]

Willie slowing down exposes how bad Tavares actually is .

but he'll bang in some garbage net front goals as well as get some nothing secondary assit's and it'll be back to JT is close to ppg so lol at the people writing him off

 

[34]

I like JT, but he is cooked. That contract can not expire fast enough.

 

[IPS]

Willie slowing down exposes how bad Tavares actually is .

but he'll bang in some garbage net front goals as well as get some nothing secondary assit's and it'll be back to JT is close to ppg so lol at the people writing him off

I don't think he's gonna even do that this year. This last month JT has looked slower and worse than ever - probably finishes with under 70 points (he's on pace for less than that right now).

 

[hotpaws]

He took an absolute beating last night, felt sorry for him.

I feel sorry for the people who are struggling financially or with health issues , not for a guy who's healthy and has made a 100m .

 

[disgruntleddave]

I hope he's injured or something else is going on.

If he's fully healthy, no outside issues, it really looks like he just hit a wall after the beginning of a season. Almost as if he spent all his energy trying to keep up and has nothing left. Looks completely cooked.

 

[MarMarSab3]

The reality is that his body has taken a beating, his style of play of being in front of the net, playing along the boards and not ever being the fleetest of foot has left him open to big hits, crosschecks, slashes and so on. He's 33 in a 40 year old body. He will be 35 when the start of his ufa season begins and people want to bring him back, no freaking chance.

 

[IPS]

I hope he's injured or something else is going on.

If he's fully healthy, no outside issues, it really looks like he just hit a wall after the beginning of a season. Almost as if he spent all his energy trying to keep up and has nothing left. Looks completely cooked.

It's really easy to look good when Nylander is feeding you multiple tap-ins every game.

 

[Stephen]

I doubt Tampa moves on from Stamkos

I think they might be slow rolling a divorce or set up for a massive discount. Don’t get the sense they want him back.

 

[Stephen]

The reality is that his body has taken a beating, his style of play of being in front of the net, playing along the boards and not ever being the fleetest of foot has left him open to big hits, crosschecks, slashes and so on. He's 33 in a 40 year old body. He will be 35 when the start of his ufa season begins and people want to bring him back, no freaking chance.

Don’t want him back at all. Not even on a Gio Spezza deal. At some point these big individuals just shape a team too much. And we need a new voice similar to Winnipeg vs Wheeler.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

I doubt Tampa moves on from Stamkos

That relationship seems pretty Rocky at this point. Stamkos voiced his displeasure with the organization for not even reaching out to him about an extension before camp, even after he told them at the end of last season he wanted to get something done.

Pretty surprising on their part considering he's their captain, homegrown superstar that has played his whole career there and still a ppg player at 34.

 

[ToneDog]

To me JT is now a slower version of Giroux. He does not have the same genes Sid has.

 

[disgruntleddave]

It's really easy to look good when Nylander is feeding you multiple tap-ins every game.

Yes, but he was objectively better earlier. He skated faster (still slow but not unusable).

It looks like he lost another 20% of his footspeed compared to the start of the season.

His offensive instincts when skating in open ice have been poor for a while but they look worse too.

There was a play where he was at the blue line covering for D and the puck came to him, so he immediately floated a weak shot on net despite minimal pressure and the possibility to skate and make a play. It looked to me like he just got rid of the puck because he was afraid of pressure, since he knows he has no gas to actually skate back if required..

 

[ACC1224]

I think they might be slow rolling a divorce or set up for a massive discount. Don’t get the sense they want him back.

That relationship seems pretty Rocky at this point. Stamkos voiced his displeasure with the organization for not even reaching out to him about an extension before camp, even after he told them at the end of last season he wanted to get something done.

Pretty surprising on their part considering he's their captain, homegrown superstar that has played his whole career there and still a ppg player at 34.

I didn't realize there were issues there, just saw this headline. Should be an interesting to see how it plays out.

Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois: 'Steven Stamkos is not getting traded' | TSN

Pending unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos will not be on the move ahead of the March 8 trade deadline. Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois, who shelved extension talks with the team's captain until after the season, put any end to any trade speculation Tuesday.

www.tsn.ca