Tavares is the reason we are wasting our time.We have no backend because we can't afford one.You don't replace his 70 pts but you can let less in and find a 55 to 60 pt cheaper replacement.
How are you feeling about Tavares these days?
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I have to say, I think JT is definitely slumping right now and he needs to find his way out of it, however I’m not sure I buy that his game has just fallen off. If that were true, he wouldn’t be generating so many chances, which he still is. Not absolving, he needs to be better, needs to convert on his opportunities, but I don’t really think we’re doing a good job supporting him.
He’s obviously not an 11M player at this point. He’s lost a step and he was never fast to start with, but his game has never really need about speed. This guy is a pros pro and takes unbelievable care of his body, so I don’t think he’s just hit a wall at 33.
Maybe Keefe should stop sending him over the boards with guys like Bertuzzi and Knies who are even slower than he is. Maybe they should take him out of the middle of the ice and reduce a) his defensive responsibilities but also b) how deep in the zone he has to start every breakout. Move Domi up to 2C, shift Tavares to the wall and let him do what he does best with 2 quicker players.
If need be have him take the faceoff and then switch off the wing from there.
I see no evidence that the organization/coaching staff is doing anything to help him navigate how he needs to play to find success as he is aging
He’s obviously not an 11M player at this point. He’s lost a step and he was never fast to start with, but his game has never really need about speed. This guy is a pros pro and takes unbelievable care of his body, so I don’t think he’s just hit a wall at 33.
Maybe Keefe should stop sending him over the boards with guys like Bertuzzi and Knies who are even slower than he is. Maybe they should take him out of the middle of the ice and reduce a) his defensive responsibilities but also b) how deep in the zone he has to start every breakout. Move Domi up to 2C, shift Tavares to the wall and let him do what he does best with 2 quicker players.
If need be have him take the faceoff and then switch off the wing from there.
I see no evidence that the organization/coaching staff is doing anything to help him navigate how he needs to play to find success as he is aging
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Larcos_Unal
Registered Nurse
If you think JT is finished now, wait til next year holy cow
ELEVEN MILLION DOLLARS
-9 in his last 5 games
ELEVEN MILLION DOLLARS
-9 in his last 5 games
notDatsyuk
Registered User
- Jul 20, 2018
- 11,986
- 10,159
I guess we disagree. I don't think JT is generating many chances. As has been the case for a couple of years, Willy is generating most of the chances. The big difference is that JT isn't converting them.
The best thing is to get him away from the fast players like Willy, as he's dragging them down. Move him to the wing with a couple of grinders. Domi as his 3C may work well.
Gilmour1996
Registered User
- Oct 16, 2022
- 1,197
- 1,449
Possibly just a nagging injury the team is letting him work through it instead of taking him out of the lineup. His TOI should be reduced in meantime but keep him on PP. Hoping he'll be better after the All-Star break.
ZEBROA
Registered User
- Dec 21, 2017
- 3,938
- 2,555
Put Tavares on third line. Give Willy the second line with jarny and holmberg. Let matthews and marner carry knies or bert.
Or marner with nylander and Domi
Or marner with nylander and Domi
I ageee with putting him with grinders if we ha md fast ones to line him up with but I’m not sure we really do. IMO he needs to be with speed otherwise his line will get hemmed in
RunItBackAgain
“We were right there”
- Oct 14, 2021
- 4,488
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Knies has been really laboring around the ice for at least 2 weeks.
RunItBackAgain
“We were right there”
- Oct 14, 2021
- 4,488
- 6,043
If knies is laboring Tavares is mid delivery.
A combination of age and injuries has slowed his foot speed. That said he still has vision and the tenacity most people here want from the youth in the group. As a leader he’s a solid player and I don’t see a reason not to see him if he takes the appropriate salary decrease as he continues to age. These contracts are the norm when they start to look a little worse at the tail end in order to capture those prime years. Honestly we’re lucky he’s still as effective as he is.
And yes, I expect him to get hot and finish closer to PPG.
And yes, I expect him to get hot and finish closer to PPG.
Lately Knies has been easily the slowest player on the entire roster. He should get it back, whereas Tavares may not, but his foot speed is atrocious right now
More than the footspeed, which is fairly non existent, it's the handling of the puck that is rendering him non-effective. The amount of times our PP gets bogged down, and the puck gets cleared, because Tavares is trying to get control of it near the boards, is frustrating.
If he doesn't find his game we are f***ed
It won't matter what trades we make
It won't matter what trades we make
hotpaws
Registered User
- Nov 21, 2009
- 22,109
- 6,697
we're only f***ed if we keep playing him close to 20mins a game
he's never done shit in the playoffs previously so he won't be missed this year , just take him off pp1 , make him a 3rd line winger with Krock and someone else on the line and forget about him until he's contract is up
Drytoast
Registered User
- Sep 27, 2017
- 6,602
- 4,819
Tavares is a soft leader. He's aged out/over priced and a big reason as to why this season and the next are a waste of time.
Leafs need to move on from him.
Leafs need to move on from him.
fancy lad
Registered User
- Nov 22, 2021
- 734
- 1,038
It just bugs me how he was handed the captaincy. I get that hindsight Is always 20 20, but here we are 5 years or whatever a team void of any real leadership.
Not even close. Knies is labouring but Taveras is stuck in quick sand. He was unplayable against the avs
Shooter2x
Registered User
- Nov 3, 2021
- 1,721
- 2,236
Tavares and Knies have been absolute garbage in the top 6 the past 2 weeks.
Knies shouldn't even be there though. He's not ready for the consistent beat down our top forwards face. Core 4 get the toughest defensive schemes thrown at them.
Tavares on the other hand needs to wake the F up. (I fully expect him to)
Knies shouldn't even be there though. He's not ready for the consistent beat down our top forwards face. Core 4 get the toughest defensive schemes thrown at them.
Tavares on the other hand needs to wake the F up. (I fully expect him to)
Larcos_Unal
Registered Nurse
Dropping Tavares from PP1 is so blatantly the correct move to make to improve the unit but it will never be done. Tavares has gotten golden treatment from the coaches/organization from day 1, even on the nights where he's the worst forward on the team he's always guaranteed to have a spot beside Nylander or Marner who are proficient at generating offense on their own. We had 1 game of Tavares on the 3rd line before Keefe scrambled back to Tavares-Nylander.
letters on the jersey are really only there to talk to ref's people don't all of a sudden become the leaders on the team because of a letter on the jersey
nuck
Registered User
- Aug 18, 2005
- 11,753
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He is 33, not 38 and he only plays 18 minutes a night but he looks like he is at the end of a 100 game season. Foligno looked done for the Leafs at 33 but he was a player for the Bs at 35 so I don't think its age. Whether illness or injury they have to get him right. I would actually sit him down for a couple of games because they can get -2 out of anybody in that spot. He needs some kind of a bump.
Stephen
Moderator
- Feb 28, 2002
- 83,096
- 62,014
JT seems to go into these terrible stretches of play mid season though. A couple of years ago it was when he started becoming a parent and the lack of sleep was cited. Think it was around the same time we had Thornton and Spezza. And man there were nights when Spezza at 38 was still handling the puck clean like a thoroughbred, coming up the ice slowly but with a long stride. JT was 30, 31? And you couldn't tell if 97 Thornton or 91 Tavares was older. But his stats stayed respectable. Then he snapped out of it down the stretch before Perry brained him.
I think he rebounds to a degree but right now he's dragging it.
