No one will confuse Tavares with Patrice Bergeron, Anze Kopitar or Jonathan Toews, but Tavares is sound defensively and drives play very well for New York. And with Toews and Kopitar both on deals that pay them $10 million or more per season, that might be where Tavares’ final cap figure ends up. None of this is to mention Tavares is a two-time Hart finalist, consistent 30-goal scorer and the Islanders’ leader on and off the ice.
So while Benn looked like he could be the league’s fourth player with a $10 million-plus cap hit, Tavares is the next in line for a big-money extension and he could very well be the fourth player to earn an eight-figure average salary.