The Toronto Maple Leafs are in the final stages of signing John Tavares to an extension. The move was first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger. It was later confirmed by the player on the Instagram page for the John Tavares Foundation — and then by the team themselves. Dreger adds that the deal with be a four-year, $17.52MM extension with an annual average value of $4.38MM.
Tavares’ extension will include $2MM in deferred salary – a practice soon to be outlawed in the NHL’s next collective bargaining agreement, per Chris Johnston of The Athletic. Johnston also shares that Tavares’ deal will carry a no-movement clause through the first two seasons, and a five-team no-trade list in the final two.
Toronto gets an important piece of business accomplished, for a price well under what many Leafs fans expected. The deal is a near-$4MM discount against Tavares’ player value, calculated by The Athletic’s statistician Dom Luszczyscyn. Tavares was coming off of a monstrous, seven-year, $77MM contract signed with Toronto on July 1st, 2018. The deal ate up 13.84 percent of Toronto’s cap-hit at the time, and often served to limit the team’s roster flexibility, alongside lofty deals for Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander.
Now age 34, Tavares will drop his cap hit by nearly two-thirds, and likely ride out the remainder of his career in a Maple Leafs jersey. He’s a Mississauga native, with deep roots in and around the Leafs organization. That includes serving as the team’s captain from 2019 to 2024. He was replaced this season by Matthews.
Tavares’ last contract was often scrutinized, but his performance on the deal should be remembered fondly. He filled a hardy role as the team’s second-line center for the duration of the contract, and totaled 222 goals and 493 points in 515 games. That mark ranks third on the Maple Leafs since the start of the 2018-19 season, behind Marner (611 points in 498 games) and Matthews (595 points in 485 games). Tavares also scored 31 points in 51 playoff games in that stretch – fifth on the Leafs behind Matthews, Nylander, Marner, and Morgan Rielly.
Tavares has been a staple of every lineup he’s played for. Prior to joining his hometown Maple Leafs, he was the quintessential top-line center for the New York Islanders spanning nine seasons. The Islanders originally drafted Tavares first-overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, following the end of his exceptional status career in the OHL. He joined the team immediately following his draft, and scored an impressing 54 points in 81 games as a rookie.
His hot-start in the NHL continued to grow-and-grow over his time with the Islanders. Tavares recorded 31 goals and 81 points in the 2011-12 season, and topped that again with 38 goals and 86 points in 2014-15. By that time, he had already served two full years as the Islanders’ captain, and earned the second all-star berth of his career. Tavares would remain New York’s captain, and a perennial all-star, until he left the squad after the 2017-18 campaign.
Tavares’ departure from Long Island, NY was one of the most scrutinized moves in recent NHL history. It was seen by many as a captain abandoning his post, with a preference for the glitz and glamour of a big market. The Islanders have appeared in four of a possible six postseasons since Tavares’ departure, while Toronto has made the playoffs in every year since their big addition.
In a summer where Toronto seems headed for a sure breakup with superstar winger Marner, they’ll opt to not shake the boat too much by also losing Tavares. Instead, Tavares will remain locked-in as Toronto’s second-line center through the foreseeable future. He scored a stout 38 goals and 74 points in 75 games this season – his highest scoring pace since netting 36 goals and 80 points in 80 games of the 2022-23 campaign. Those are electric scoring totals for a player well over the hill of his NHL career. At a cheap price for the next four seasons, even two-thirds of those scoring totals would make Tavares a contract worth hanging onto.
Photo courtesy of Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports.
Wow, that’s Trent Frederic money.
I got a good laugh from that. True & hilarious.
So much for changing the DNA.
Yeah but for $4mm I can’t really argue with the move. Term is quite reasonable as well. It is shaping up like the “significant” change is just that Marner won’t be there.
At that price you’re paying him to be a 3C so still plenty of room to make other changes. The truth is there are no centres on the market so he probably is the 2C by default this year but moves down the lineup or to the wing later in the contract. I get wanting change, but without him you’re basically punting on 2025 and just hoping you can land a centre next offseason.
Ya for a while there were rumours of 6 years around 5-6 so this looks like a deal and half for 2nd liner for the next 2 seasons at least
Never mind “changing the DNA” or other buzzwords. You win by having good players. You ensure you win by getting good players on team-friendly deals. Tavares is a strong and consistent scorer, elite on the dot, and he’s not afraid of banging.
Poor guy. Has to live in Toronto and never win a cup
This isn’t really surprising overall that John Tavares is staying in Toronto. I think the AAV of $4.3M is a bit lower than expected but apparently, both sides got what they wanted in the end, as Tavares will probably end his career as a Leaf when all set and done.
Good value. But what’s changing in Toronto?
Well Marner is almost certainly leaving for one.
And Shannahan is already gone. So 2 changes! Lol
Wow, that’s a great hometown discount.
No kidding. Someone would’ve given him double that at least, and at four years it won’t even age terribly. Very smooth move by the Leafs.
Yikes!
For that price tag, that’s a great signing. Tavares stays in his home market, and Toronto keeps a quality 2C for less than the going rate. If Tavares doesn’t drop off a cliff, this is a win-win for everyone.
Duchesne money! Tavares is better than that! What a deal! We should hear no more about HOW much money he makes. But Toronto will still be critical about his play!
Excellent contract in terms of $$ and length.
I thought Tavares would’ve been prioritizing a ring at this point of his career
I get dunking on the leafs, but outside of Florida there’s probably 5-6 teams with similar cup odds with Toronto being one of them. Maybe this is also a sign that he feels Marner was a big part of the problem in the playoffs.
I will continue dunking on Toronto and question whether they are legit contenders with the 5 or 6 others. This team is one year older (not a good thing at this point) and lost Marner. They presumably replace him with another big but likely less impactful player. Still not certain I see them making a deep playoff run.
how did your sens do?
Trent Frederick has a better agent, lol!
let this be lesson to Mitch Marner. that’s a hometown discount.
good riddance to that childish baby
For the first time, the Leafs have a chance to win…IF they spend their money correctly.
Sign Ekblad. Sign Ehlers or Marchand. Trade for Rust or Rakell.
Cross your fingers on the G tandem, get tougher and spread the scoring out a bit wider.
Damn good deal for Toronto.