NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, John Tavares, and What’s the Number?

Sportsnet 590 The FAN: Matt Marchese and Elliotte Freidman on Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares and is there a future for him in Toronto. It will come down to, ‘what’s the number?’

** NHLRumors.com transcription

Marchese: “John Tavares gets to point number 1,100. 68th player to do so in NHL history. And the funniest part about John Tavares and his, and his career is that when he signed the, the original contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, that everybody said this contract is not going to age well, we already understand that.

And now, and I’m not saying that he’s an $11 million player, because he’s not, but this contract is not nearly …

Friedman: “It aged well.”

Marchese: “Yeah, it is not aged nearly as poorly as anyone had suggested. And dare I say that John Tavares, even, even at 35 years old, almost 35 years old, is still a key cog in this offensive wheel that the Leafs are. And he’s still a big player to the point where you’re, you as a as an organization have to make a real hard decision on what you’re going to do here with him in the off-season.

Because, frankly, I don’t think it’s a hard decision. He needs to come back. Whatever the number is, is a different story, but he’s a key piece of what they’re doing.

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Friedman: “Look, I think this, I think you’re right on everything you say. I think he’s, the other thing too is, is that, you know he works. You know he’s a 65 point player last year. He has 60 points last night. So he could beat, could beat that this year.

And the thing is, like he still does all the things you have to do to be effective. You know, he’s never been the fastest guy. And in a league that’s faster than ever, he still trains and takes care of his body. And as someone who knows that, he’s got to be on the cutting edge of all this stuff to still be a player. And that’s, that’s important.

Now, I think with Tavares, there is a deal to be made there, and it comes down to what’s the number. I think Toronto would like, you know, not like, a low AAV, like we’re not talking weak minimum here. But I don’t think they necessarily want to pay him $7 million a year either. So like, to me, it comes down to what’s the number.

Like, obviously, he wants to stay. I think in a perfect world, they want him to stay. His family is here. They’re in here. So where do we get to that sweet spot? But I definitely think there’s a will to keep him.

I’ve been told all year that there is a deal there, as long as everybody, as long as maybe the Leafs, maybe not, maybe not go as low as they would like to, and Tavares maybe doesn’t come as high as he’d like to.”

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