Leafs must avoid Lightning's missteps with Stamkos in handling in John Tavares
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning don't like each other, but there may be a wise lesson the Leafs will have learnt from Tampa's mistakes.
The Lightning have been a model franchise over the last half decade, having won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021, however things came crashing down when it came time to handle one of the contracts of their superstars, Steven Stamkos.
The team has now lost their franchise leader in points for absolutely nothing, and the Maple Leafs can take this as a lesson and avoid making the same mistakes with their superstar player.
Another early exit. Another bid for gold. Another delicate contract year. On captain John Tavares and his uncertain future with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Leafs captain John Tavares will be a UFA at the end of next season, and the Leafs have to be smart about how they proceed with this. Should the Leafs feel that contract talks are going nowhere, and the team is outside of a playoff spot by the deadline, GM Brad Treliving will have to avoid "pulling a Tampa", and may need to trade Tavares so that he doesn't lose him for nothing in free agency.
If Tavares wants to do what's best for the Leafs, he will waive his no-movement clause, and agree to join another team should Treliving decide the best option is to trade him.
John Tavares already has a rocky relationship with Islanders fans for how things ended there, so he will likely want to avoid doing that in a hotbed hockey market like Toronto.
John Tavares has scored 456 goals and has a total of 1,040 points in his career so far with the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Islanders. He's added a further 46 points in his 62 career playoff games.
Source: Maple Leafs Daily
Toronto Maple Leafs could learn from the Tampa Bay Lightning's mistakes
Source: HockeyDB
John Tavares Statistics
| POLL | ||
Will the Toronto Maple Leafs move John Tavares at the trade deadline? | ||
| Yes | 136 | 33.4 % |
| No | 271 | 66.6 % |
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