John Tavares has taken that next step.

[Dangles McGavin]

Critics are not always haters - I love JT, but he has not played like he is now since his first season with the Leafs.

He was looking slow, got knocked down easily, wasn't providing enough offensive spark, etc. etc. He looked to have regressed sharply which was concerning because a) he's only a couple years into a long contract, b) he makes $11M, and c) he's really not that old yet - you would hope that an elite athlete who plays his style of game should be in his prime until his early 30s.

Anyways - I'm very happy to see our Captain playing as well as he is. From one Oakville boy to another - keep it up JT, lead us to the promised land.

 

[Stephen]

This is the thing I've never understood about his haters. People were really hating on his skating. "He's too slow to play".

JT has ALWAYS been slow. He didn't get slow just this year. He was slow before he came here. He excels in spite of his slow speed because of his IQ, tremendous hands, and willingness to play in dirty areas. In general, these things don't just disappear after one season at the age of 30.

He’s picked up the pace a lot the past few weeks. The early season struggles where he couldn’t get free from a back check he looked slower than Spezza and Thornton and didn’t have their range (being a smaller guy). Completely swarmed. The skating stride seemed so laboured like he was extending his abdomen so hard on every extension. Now he looks completely rejuvenated and moving very differently through space.

 

[Stephen]

Players have good and bad streaks. Perhaps next time you should just chill. Through the tough times, try to remember that John Tavares is good at hockey.

Not really. It’s the individual players responsibility to bring their best game and prove who they are every night or work through struggles, which Tavares did a good job. I’m responding to what I see as a snapshot in time and will call it like I see it.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Critics are not always haters - I love JT, but he has not played like he is now since his first season with the Leafs.

He was looking slow, got knocked down easily, wasn't providing enough offensive spark, etc. etc. He looked to have regressed sharply which was concerning because a) he's only a couple years into a long contract, b) he makes $11M, and c) he's really not that old yet - you would hope that an elite athlete who plays his style of game should be in his prime until his early 30s.

Anyways - I'm very happy to see our Captain playing as well as he is. From one Oakville boy to another - keep it up JT, lead us to the promised land.

It definitely feels that way watching .. i think he looks better when Willy plays much better .. and Willy has played much much better past month and has even given us a game where he was best player on ice recently .. also i think JT's shooting was off as he was not finding back of net like he normally does ... but I think you are right as JT goes in playoffs so does team .. he can't be getting stoned like last year against CLB that was ridonkulous how many times he missed on easy goals .. if he scored even 2 or 3 of those tap ins maybe we would have won that series even .. also remember his 1st year here he played with Mitch and Zach who are 2 ideal linemates for his style of play .. JT has never been fast even as a kid he was always coming into play late but his hands are sUPER elite and he used to score on almost every chance ... past 2 years not so much

 

[Gallagbi]

He’s picked up the pace a lot the past few weeks. The early season struggles where he couldn’t get free from a back check he looked slower than Spezza and Thornton and didn’t have their range (being a smaller guy). Completely swarmed. The skating stride seemed so laboured like he was extending his abdomen so hard on every extension. Now he looks completely rejuvenated and moving very differently through space.

I really don't think it's much to do with skating. A lot more of it is his hands. He couldn't make a basic play early in the season, which is where he regularly thrives.

That causes turnovers, forcing him into stop/starts and disjointed plays. Right now hes executing, which keeps him going in the same direction

 

[Cotton]

Critics are not always haters - I love JT, but he has not played like he is now since his first season with the Leafs.

He was looking slow, got knocked down easily, wasn't providing enough offensive spark, etc. etc. He looked to have regressed sharply which was concerning because a) he's only a couple years into a long contract, b) he makes $11M, and c) he's really not that old yet - you would hope that an elite athlete who plays his style of game should be in his prime until his early 30s.

Anyways - I'm very happy to see our Captain playing as well as he is. From one Oakville boy to another - keep it up JT, lead us to the promised land.

His first year here shouldn’t be the bar - he was playing better than he had in New York, that was a hell of a season for him.

After the signing one of the most common themes in the cesspool of the Isles boards was that Leafs fans will turn on him once we find out he, annually, is known for cold spells and for some terrible turnovers. That is what happened with a portion of this fanbase, some people need to relax when slumps happen - we got too many around here ready to crucify players shift to shift, let alone over the course of weeks.

 

[Tak7]

Tavares' play now, is exactly why so many of us were critical of him earlier in the year.

This is what he's capable of, and he wasn't at this level early in the year.

 

[Stephen]

I really don't think it's much to do with skating. A lot more of it is his hands. He couldn't make a basic play early in the season, which is where he regularly thrives.

That causes turnovers, forcing him into stop/starts and disjointed plays. Right now hes executing, which keeps him going in the same direction

Hands yes. They were not handling the puck well; maybe he had to slow down because he was bobbling the puck. But it looked like a big effort to extend. Well, whatever it was hopefully we don’t see that as we head down the stretch and enter the playoffs.

 

[meefer]

John Tavares is a very good hockey player, was a good hockey player, and went through a bit of a dry spell. It happens. But in Leafland that means the critics sharpen their knives and revel in their chance to do what they love to do, which is bitch.

John Tavares is not the best player in the show. He's not going to be an 11M player if that's how you measure. But, he is a professional, who will give his best, whatever that is. He had his down period and some said his days were over. Nonsense, as he's now proving. He's not going to displace AM, or pick your fav, but he's going to give it his all and that is more often than not, pretty damned good.

Some people really should step back and recognize that hockey is not a linear sport.

 

[Doublerum1975]

John Tavares is a very good hockey player, was a good hockey player, and went through a bit of a dry spell. It happens. But in Leafland that means the critics sharpen their knives and revel in their chance to do what they love to do, which is bitch.

John Tavares is not the best player in the show. He's not going to be an 11M player if that's how you measure. But, he is a professional, who will give his best, whatever that is. He had his down period and some said his days were over. Nonsense, as he's now proving. He's not going to displace AM, or pick your fav, but he's going to give it his all and that is more often than not, pretty damned good.

Some people really should step back and recognize that hockey is not a linear sport.

He’s playing good hockey all year finally he’s getting some bounces and putting up points

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

 

[Twine Tickler]

He’s playing good hockey all year finally he’s getting some bounces and putting up points

100%

JT has been all over the puck all year. He is the Tim Duncan of the NHL. Underwhelming superstar his whole career. hardly ever wow's you, but just does everything really well. Obviously being the captain of the Leafs comes with its own set of challenges and scrutiny. Which comes with the territory when you make that type of money as well. At the end of the day I just appreciate that he chose Toronto over other teams. He wants to win, and he wants to win as a Leaf. That means something. To me at least

 

[saffronleaf]

100%

JT has been all over the puck all year. He is the Tim Duncan of the NHL. Underwhelming superstar his whole career. hardly ever wow's you, but just does everything really well. Obviously being the captain of the Leafs comes with its own set of challenges and scrutiny. Which comes with the territory when you make that type of money as well. At the end of the day I just appreciate that he chose Toronto over other teams. He wants to win, and he wants to win as a Leaf. That means something. To me at least

Tavares reminds me a bit of a poor version of Crosby. Obviously though Crosby has many wows and such. But shift-to-shift he's all about doing the little things at an elite level, and very high hockey IQ.

 

[Twine Tickler]

Tavares reminds me a bit of a poor version of Crosby. Obviously though Crosby has many wows and such. But shift-to-shift he's all about doing the little things at an elite level, and very high hockey IQ.

ya exactly. He is the exact same style of player as Sid, just Sid is a generational talent and JT is not. But exact same brand of hockey. JT has brought everything we could have asked for since coming to Toronto. He has performed at or above his career average in terms of Pts/game and is still a pain in the ass for opponents to contain. Him and Willy deserve a ton of credit for their play in the last 2 months. Both look elite IMO

 

[Rielly4]

He’s playing good hockey all year finally he’s getting some bounces and putting up points

totally disagree. Hes been a turnover machine all year and hes finally making plays. Even last year I really wasnt a fan of his play but the past few weeks JT has looked like the first line C he was his first year with us.

 

[Contenderorpretender]

Heating up just in time.. I must admit foligno impressed me last night and am fine if he plays like that to stick on the first line. Hyman with JT and willy boom.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

It seemed like he was treating the puck like a hot potato earlier in the season. Kept bobbling and whiffing on his passes and shots. I'm honestly convinced he had a nagging hand injury lol

Anyway, glad he is back to form now and it doesn't even matter who is playing with him.

 

[Doublerum1975]

totally disagree. Hes been a turnover machine all year and hes finally making plays. Even last year I really wasnt a fan of his play but the past few weeks JT has looked like the first line C he was his first year with us.

Wrong go look at his stats on the cold streak his whole line was snake bitten pucks were just not going in for his line

 

[Teeder Keon]

His worth will show up at playoff time
Along with
Joe and Spezz and Train and jumping Foligno and Hyman and Mo to compliment our outstanding young talent

 

[authentic]

I really don't think it's much to do with skating. A lot more of it is his hands. He couldn't make a basic play early in the season, which is where he regularly thrives.

That causes turnovers, forcing him into stop/starts and disjointed plays. Right now hes executing, which keeps him going in the same direction

Honestly I've noticed a pretty big difference in his skating too.

 

[Its not your fault]

Taveras next step is getting slower. At best he has average speed and getting slower. His offensive stats or what we expect to see from him doesn't really justify the contract. He realizes that his speed isnt one of his stronger points and tries to make up for it by being more defensive minded and aggressive along the boards. Four more years of cap hit on this contract. The game is getting quicker, players coming in our getting faster. Eventually they might have to find a way of putting him on LTIR to free up cap space.

If only every okay skater was that great defensely. While over .75 ppg.

 

[Doublerum1975]

Thank you zeke this is what i was looking for so unlucky during his cold streak he's been playing great hockey all year

 

[Teeder Keon]

Brooks >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Pierre

 

[nuck]

In almost half his games this season JT has played under 18:00. This started in game #2 where he was 15:57 and scored a goal and an assist. Can anyone explain why his minutes were cut like that? He is 18:17 for this year which is the lowest usage since his rookie season. I am not understanding the usage. His pp60 is low but the limited minutes started so early in the year it seems as likely to be a result as a cause.

 

[Iapyi]

I agree that Tavares hasn't really played all that bad this year. Some people like to whine.