Former Islanders GM Stands Up for Tavares's Choice to Join the Toronto Maple Leafs

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Julien Trekker
August 20, 2023 (12:43)

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John Tavares' departure from the Islanders caused a huge stir on Long Island. Seeing their captain leave for Toronto in free agency after nine years of service was tough.

Garth Snow, the GM in office at the time, made a surprising statement concerning Tavares.

Islanders Wanted to Keep Him

Here's Snow's statement:

"The decision by Scott Malkin was that we weren't going to trade him under any circumstances," Snow said. "He was totally committed to re-signing him. I think the quote I had said is, �Are you willing to drive the car off the cliff if you go through the season and get to free agency?' He was comfortable with that. That's the bottom line."

Snow Stands Up for Tavares

As you know, Tavares received a lot of hate messages when he left New York for Toronto. Even now, every time he returns to Long Island, he gets booed when he touches the puck.

Snow stood up for Tavares:

"I feel so bad that [Tavares] gets trashed for something that wasn't his fault," Snow said. "The Islanders could have traded him if they wanted to, but that decision was made. So it's not his fault the Islanders didn't trade him."

His departure from New York only highlighted the poor management of those years. Now, he still receives hate for what is clearly not his fault.

If he had been traded instead, his move to another city probably wouldn't have been received in the same way by the fans.

Do you think Tavares will stay in Toronto after his current contract?

As seen on Blade of Steel - Former Islanders general manager defends Tavares's decision to leave Long Island