John Tavares the Man the Myth the Legend

[hotpaws]

You are right Tavares gets a pass while his teammates get shit on. Perhaps it is because his teammates are some of the most unlikeable players to wear a Leafs jersey. JT still has some goodwill from the fan base. The 3 amigos have used theirs all up. Marner 6 years ago with his contract negotiation and disappearing act in the playoffs IMO.

what goodwill is that exactly ?

signing him to the highest cap hit in the NHL at that time and then spinning it as a discount ?

the guys been a failure since jr and yet always gets a free pass , i'm sure very few in any of his teammates past and present appreciate being shit on to deflect attention away form Johnny

 

[Menzinger]

There's enough noise that folks should brace for an extension. JT/his age haven't exactly been subtle with their position and have been using the media accordingly. And Tre needs bodies.. positively it sounds like he's going to get absolutely squeezed on aav. He can't play in the top six at even strength though, that's for sure. Too slow.

I can see $5 million for 3 years. With the expectation that he needs to realize he may not be on the PP1 anymore and may fit into a more of 3rd line centre / face off specialist role

Nylander and JT don’t seem to be a good fit

The issue is he really needs to be on the PP to get real value from him. Maybe he can anchor the second unit though .

 

[ToneDog]

what goodwill is that exactly ?

signing him to the highest cap hit in the NHL at that time and then spinning it as a discount ?

the guys been a failure since jr and yet always gets a free pass , i'm sure very few in any of his teammates past and present appreciate being shit on to deflect attention away form Johnny

For whatever reason, there are not many fans shitting on him as there are on the rest of the core. Maybe it has to do with the 3 amigos being classified as greedy and selfish. Johnny might be cut from the same cloth but he does not get the heat the 3 amigos do. Maybe because he works harder. I can only guess.

 

[ToneDog]

There's enough noise that folks should brace for an extension. JT/his age haven't exactly been subtle with their position and have been using the media accordingly. And Tre needs bodies.. positively it sounds like he's going to get absolutely squeezed on aav. He can't play in the top six at even strength though, that's for sure. Too slow.



The issue is he really needs to be on the PP to get real value from him. Maybe he can anchor the second unit though .

I watch Dallas and they throw two PP units on for each PP. The Leafs rely on the same 5 guys and when they do not work (like it usually does not in the playoffs against a good PK) the coach has no answer.

 

[HellasLEAF]

If management has half a brain and has been watching him in the playoffs the last years of his contract it's clear as day he cannot return for any amount of money.

No budget deal will ever be worth him taking a spot in the lineup from someone who could be a much more effective playoff performer. Which he is not.

He is slow and soft, and will get slower and softer. He is not effective at all in the post season and that will not change by extending him. Hard pass move on.

 

[hotpaws]

For whatever reason, there are not many fans shitting on him as there are on the rest of the core. Maybe it has to do with the 3 amigos being classified as greedy and selfish. Johnny might be cut from the same cloth but he does not get the heat the 3 amigos do. Maybe because he works harder. I can only guess.

JT's greed started everything , Dubas literally came out and said the second he signed JT to the highest cap hit in the league it blew the top off what the kids were asking for

and just because every stride he takes is a struggle doesn't mean he works hard , the f***ing cherry picking bitch walks back to our end so slow and far out of the play people don't even know he's on the ice which is pathetic for a center

 

[ToneDog]

If management has half a brain and has been watching him in the playoffs the last years of his contract it's clear as day he cannot return for any amount of money.

No budget deal will ever be worth him taking a spot in the lineup from someone who could be a much more effective playoff performer. Which he is not.

He is slow and soft, and will get slower and softer. He is not effective at all in the post season and that will not change by extending him. Hard pass move on.

Clearly he has lost a step but my thinking is he would be more of a difference maker playing in our our 3rd line. But that has to come at a team friendly number. I doubt they walk away from him. Nobody in the media has suggested otherwise.

 

[ToneDog]

JT's greed started everything , Dubas literally came out and said the second he signed JT to the highest cap hit in the league it blew the top off what the kids were asking for

and just because every stride he takes is a struggle doesn't mean he works hard , the f***ing cherry picking bitch walks back to our end so slow and far out of the play people don't even know he's on the ice which is pathetic for a center

Agreed Dubas overpaid Tavares but Tavares was a UFA and I cannot blame him for Dubas not being able to read the landcape. If they 3 amigos hated losing as much as they love money, Dubas might still be here. Do not recall who said it but on his way out Dubas said he did not realize that the 3 amigos did not hate losing enough. He was not wrong.

 

[HellasLEAF]

Clearly he has lost a step but my thinking is he would be more of a difference maker playing in our our 3rd line. But that has to come at a team friendly number. I doubt they walk away from him. Nobody in the media has suggested otherwise.

No contract. Zero should be the offer.

I'll tell you, there is no way the Florida Panthers would have this aging wonder in their lineup. They believe in fast physical players. Fast physical players is the formula to success in the post season. JT is not fast, and is not physical. And has been 'mostly' a disappointment in the post season. So, why do we want him back exactly? I'm honestly not understanding. He is a failure here and we can't lock up money to this declining asset under any circumstances.

 

[hotpaws]

Agreed Dubas overpaid Tavares but Tavares was a UFA and I cannot blame him for Dubas not being able to read the landcape. If they 3 amigos hated losing as much as they love money, Dubas might still be here. Do not recall who said it but on his way out Dubas said he did not realize that the 3 amigos did not hate losing enough. He was not wrong.

your excuses for Tavares never end

so Tavares being greedy is Dubies fault and the 3 amigos , it was really only two saying ''hey i'm better than JT so i want the same money are the only greedy one's ?

if Tavares wanted to show some leadership and cared about winning he wouldn't have squeezed Dubas to become the highest paid player at the time he signed , had he signed for let's say 9m which was more than fair for the type of player he was the kids would have asked for much less and things might have turned out differently

but you don't parachute a ufa into the locker room who hasn't won shit . make him the highest paid player in the league and then expect your kids who are better than him to accept less money and when they don't call them greedy !

 

[Stephen]

If management has half a brain and has been watching him in the playoffs the last years of his contract it's clear as day he cannot return for any amount of money.

No budget deal will ever be worth him taking a spot in the lineup from someone who could be a much more effective playoff performer. Which he is not.

He is slow and soft, and will get slower and softer. He is not effective at all in the post season and that will not change by extending him. Hard pass move on.

John Tavares had a good, hard working and honourable run through the playoffs and I'd say it was very similar to Pacioretty. (Who outscored him 3 G 5 A 8 PTS to 5 G 2 A 7 PTS in 2 less games). So there's still value there. It's just a problem when Tavares made over $10 million more than Pacioretty.

Moving forward that cap number comes down, but so will his offensive output. And the historical baggage also makes you hesitate to bring him back.

 

[ToneDog]

No contract. Zero should be the offer.

I'll tell you, there is no way the Florida Panthers would have this aging wonder in their lineup. They believe in fast physical players. Fast physical players is the formula to success in the post season. JT is not fast, and is not physical. And has been 'mostly' a dsappointmetnt in the post season. So, why do we want him back exactly? I'm honestly not understanding. He is a failure here and we can't lock up money to this declining asset under any circumstances.

Sure if you can acquire/sign a younger, better, faster, more physical player, I got no problem letting him walk. I say younger but a Marchand might be a possibility but you still need to ice 12 forwards.

 

[hotpaws]

No contract. Zero should be the offer.

I'll tell you, there is no way the Florida Panthers would have this aging wonder in their lineup. They believe in fast physical players. Fast physical players is the formula to success in the post season. JT is not fast, and is not physical. And has been 'mostly' a disappointment in the post season. So, why do we want him back exactly? I'm honestly not understanding. He is a failure here and we can't lock up money to this declining asset under any circumstances.

the only thing i can think of is name recognition

they watch how poorly he plays but can't accept that he's that bad based on the name on the back of the jersey

 

[frizzer1]

He can win faceoffs and can score if set up in the slot.
That’s it.
Creates nothing on his own offensively.
Too slow to compete defensively.
Nothing more than 2 mil as a third liner.

 

[Confucius]

No contract. Zero should be the offer.

I'll tell you, there is no way the Florida Panthers would have this aging wonder in their lineup. They believe in fast physical players. Fast physical players is the formula to success in the post season. JT is not fast, and is not physical. And has been 'mostly' a disappointment in the post season. So, why do we want him back exactly? I'm honestly not understanding. He is a failure here and we can't lock up money to this declining asset under any circumstances.

We have to put 20 guys on the roster, for the right deal you have to extend him. How much is the right deal is the only real question.

 

[hotpaws]

We have to put 20 guys on the roster, for the right deal you have to extend him. How much is the right deal is the only real question.

fortunately we don't ''have'' to sign him , the sun will still come up if we go in another direction and we'll still be able to ice a full roster

 

[Confucius]

fortunately we don't ''have'' to sign him , the sun will still come up if we go in another direction and we'll still be able to ice a full roster

So you wouldn’t even give him league minimum?

 

[hotpaws]

So you wouldn’t even give him league minimum?

the problem with signing Tavares regardless of the price is he won't accept taking a lesser role which means much less ice time , having him change his style of play as well as no num 1 pp

but lets say he does accept a reduced role , what can he add ? all he's ever done in his entire career is hang around the crease/slot which isn't what we need in a 3rd liner , so what is it people believe he'll add in a depth role that makes it necessary to re-sign him ?

 

[NVious]

the problem with signing Tavares regardless of the price is he won't accept taking a lesser role which means much less ice time , having him change his style of play as well as no num 1 pp even

but lets say he does accept a reduced role , what can he add ? all he's ever done in his entire career is hang around the crease slot which isn't what we need in a 3rd liner , so what is it people believe he'll add in a depth role that makes it necessary to re-sign him ?

If Tavares is making any sort of TOI or real $$$ demands, he needs to go ASAP.

Tavares should only be back on a very cheap contract and we should load manage him like we did to keep Patches fresh.

Tavares at league min-2 mill is fantastic
Tavares at 2-4 is whatever, but I don't hate it if you can't get anything else
Tavares at 5+ is starting to get into disaster territory

For as good as he was in the season, he disappeared in the playoffs apart from 1 game vs Florida and a few vs Ottawa. Ultimately, the Leafs have all the leverage, we already overpaid him to begin with, he says he wants to stay and apparently wants to win, time to put his money where his mouth is because relative to his overall value last contract, I'd say at best he was a 6 million dollar player when you factor in the playoffs. That's a fleecing of 35+ million, time for a massive haircut from him.

Or he can kick rocks and go get a 4x8 from Yzerman or maybe even Shanahan. Again 2 goals/0 assists his last 9 playoff games, horrendous stuff for 11 mill, last year was abysmal too 1 goal in 7 games. Going back to the last Florida series, he has 6 goals/4 assists in his last 25 playoff games, some horrifying stuff really.

 

[Confucius]

the problem with signing Tavares regardless of the price is he won't accept taking a lesser role which means much less ice time , having him change his style of play as well as no num 1 pp

but lets say he does accept a reduced role , what can he add ? all he's ever done in his entire career is hang around the crease/slot which isn't what we need in a 3rd liner , so what is it people believe he'll add in a depth role that makes it necessary to re-sign him ?

Score goals. Win faceoffs, win board battles and standing in front of the net is a good thing. Nobody else does on this team. May be around a point per game player. Can’t wait to see who does all that for 5 million

 

[NVious]

Score goals. Win faceoffs, win board battles and standing in front of the net is a good thing. Nobody else does on this team. May be around a point per game player. Can’t wait to see who does all that for 5 million

6 goals/4 assists his last 25 playoff games playing on an offensively stacked team is abysmal (Marchand literally has more points in 14 games this year at 36).

He got paid, time for him to put the crest on the front at the front of everything and do the team a solid and take a league min after he let us down for so long.

 

[fahad203]

Fact is people pumped his stats and production, because of his "pro" status, but signing him was setting precedent on money and rushing things.

I loved JT a lot of the time, he was great, but he is not the guy we need anymore. He was abysmal this series, he would let his board battles fail and drop onto his ass. I know he can be better but he is getting up there, and 7 years of him was ENOUGH to know it doesn't work with him as well.

Love JT, but he is flawed. Time to move on

I share thus sentiment. Time to move on. Part of the losing culture. Only 11 million player in the league not to get 100 points.

I thought he would be a playoff player. Dude is bigger dud than Auston

Totally no show for last 4 games. Just not good enough. Too slow for a league just getting faster every year

 

[Stephen]

I share thus sentiment. Time to move on. Part of the losing culture. Only 11 million player in the league not to get 100 points.

I thought he would be a playoff player. Dude is bigger dud than Auston

Totally no show for last 4 games. Just not good enough. Too slow for a league just getting faster every year

JT is a bad fit in terms of intentional roster design, but he's really here because he's too comfortable in Toronto to move on. I could a Rogers owned team with the hamster wheel spinning coming to the conclusion we need to stay in the playoffs and a warm body is a warm body. So convenience x lack of imagination means he's probably back. 2 years, less than $5 million please.

 

[Metroid]

Sign and trade ...

marner for Eichel

With some reluctance ( ) ...

If this trade happens I'll eat a bowl of cat poo.

 

[Racer88]

If this trade happens I'll eat a bowl of cat poo.

Can we feed the cat tacos first