Speculation: Where does Tavares end up??

[David Suzuki]

The other big reason would be if he values goaltending. Montréal can offer that more than most other suitors, certainly St Louis and NYI

Yeah that's true too. He also knows Weber.

Or maybe Molson has compromising info on him

 

[Albus Dumbledore]

i think the biggest difference between stamkos was stammers had a legit team and some teams might have been wary of his injury history. I think teams are really gonna go all out with tavares, and i would think he will choose a good balance of money and chance to win.

 

[Wingsfan 4 life]

By that time they just buy him out with a amnesty buyout from the 2020 work stoppage.

Only way I see any amnesty buyouts when the next CBA rolls around is if the cap, for whatever reason, drops significantly or max. term is reduced from 7/8 years to something like 4/5 years.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

I think San Jose just seems the most likely at this point if he doesn't return to the Island.

 

[Jay haller]

Only way I see any amnesty buyouts when the next CBA rolls around is if the cap, for whatever reason, drops significantly or max. term is reduced from 7/8 years to something like 4/5 years.

The owners of the major market teams love being stuck with players while at the same time the going rate for middle pair UFA Dman is 6 years 5.5 mill.

But yeah no amnesty buyouts

 

[member 290103]

There's a lot of rumours that Vancouver will end up with Tavares. They have all kinds of cap space, the need for a #1 talent like he has and he loves the West coast.

 

[canuckslover10]

Vancouver at 5 million dollars

 

[Makar Goes Fast]

i dont think he's ever publicly said he doesn't plan on retiring to go play lacrosse so we can't rule that out.

 

[ginner classic]

NYI 1 in 2
STL 1 in 5
SJ 1 in 10
CAR 1 in 10
NSH 1 in 20
MTL 1 in 40
VAN 1 in 120
CLB 1 in 120
OTT 1 in 240
ARI 1 in 480
DET 1 in 480

 

[lawrence]

There's a lot of rumours that Vancouver will end up with Tavares. They have all kinds of cap space, the need for a #1 talent like he has and he loves the West coast.

been following the Canucks very closley the last few years, this is news to me, that he wants to play here. Vancouver is a great place to live probably the best in Canada, but high taxes, not to mention rebuilding team, I doubt he wants to play in Vancouver.

 

[AslanRH]

My sleeper pick will be the Panthers.
- Owner is willing to spend $$$$
- Tax friendly
- Beautiful area and weather
- Eastern travel
- Barkov-Tavares is a great balance of style
- Locked up core
- Trocheck can play RW
- Bjugstad's salary will be easy to move out
- Good pool of kids to fill in the gaps

 

[ALEXIVICH CHULKATURI]

His fiancé is from Ontario. I remember when Lebron was thinking of leaving Miami and the rumor was Savanna (I believe that's her name) James said my family is in Ohio and I want to raise the children near their grandparents and it was a done deal. The women overrule everything when it comes to this. He's going there....

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Well, JT has said he wants to play for a team that does everything they can to win. So if he wants to leave NY:

San Jose - reputation of a good team, need to replace Jumbo in the future

St. Louis - reputation of a good team, need to replace Stastny and finally get a legit 1C

Vegas - reputation of a good team, want to improve the team to avoid fallback and create new buzz around the team

I think those 3 teams fit the bill. Teams where JT probably thinks he could have success, get paid and play the role he wants to. And i think all 3 will pursue him hard.

It'll be pretty tough to compete with those teams to be honest, unless he has personal reasons to look for somewhere specific.

 

[ALEXIVICH CHULKATURI]

Well, JT has said he wants to play for a team that does everything they can to win. So if he wants to leave NY:

San Jose - reputation of a good team, need to replace Jumbo in the future

St. Louis - reputation of a good team, need to replace Stastny and finally get a legit 1C

Vegas - reputation of a good team, want to improve the team to avoid fallback and create new buzz around the team

I think those 3 teams fit the bill. Teams where JT probably thinks he could have success, get paid and play the role he wants to. And i think all 3 will pursue him hard.

It'll be pretty tough to compete with those teams to be honest.

I'm sure his fiancé is saying 'you know this manhattan place is really boring let's go to St. Louis'....

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I'm sure his fiancé is saying 'you know this manhattan place is really boring let's go to St. Louis'....

Well all we can do is speculate from hockey standpoint. If he has other stuff affecting his decision then that'll be impossible for us to know.

 

[ALEXIVICH CHULKATURI]

Boy wants to go back home as did the Hammer. Toronto is finally going to get their man, now can they get Doughty to come back home is the question. If the Islanders were moving to Belmont in the fall they'd have a chance but they're not and whose going to want split home games between 2 arenas...

 

[cptjeff]

I'm sure his fiancé is saying 'you know this manhattan place is really boring let's go to St. Louis'....

St. Louis is a pretty nice city, much lower taxes and cost of living, great parks and museums, less traffic and nightmare crush of people, the entire city doesn't smell like garbage, and there are going to be a lot of hockey related factors driving the decision as well. It's pretty clear at this point that being in New York is not enough to keep him with the Isles no matter how much money they pay him, so...

 

[ALEXIVICH CHULKATURI]

St. Louis is a pretty nice city, much lower taxes and cost of living, great parks and museums, less traffic and nightmare crush of people, the entire city doesn't smell like garbage, and there are going to be a lot of hockey related factors driving the decision as well. It's pretty clear at this point that being in New York is not enough to keep him with the Isles no matter how much money they pay him, so...

No offense but this an asinine retort. It's f***ing Manhattan, the greatest city in the world. St. Louis, San Jose, Las Vegas....Shheeesh...

 

[GirardSpinorama]

New York is possibly one of the most important cities in the world, but not necessarily the greatest place to live in the world.

 

[lawrence]

the entire city doesn't smell like garbage

now which cities smell like garbage?

 

[Howie Hodge]

I believe he prefers to stay somewhere closer to home (GTA).

He doesn't want the pressure of Toronto though, apparently.

Too bad Buffalo isn't further along/successful in their rebuild at this point....

 

[Mr Positive]

I still see him signing for the Rangers. History shows that quick rebuilds are best, and they won't aim for a long rebuild anyway, not as long as Lundqvist is still there. The only sticking point is that they traded McDonagh. That's a much bigger deal than trading Nash was.

 

[lawrence]

My sleeper pick will be the Panthers.
- Owner is willing to spend $$$$
- Tax friendly
- Beautiful area and weather
- Eastern travel
- Barkov-Tavares is a great balance of style
- Locked up core
- Trocheck can play RW
- Bjugstad's salary will be easy to move out
- Good pool of kids to fill in the gaps

unlikely. They have a cheap ass owner.

 

[ALEXIVICH CHULKATURI]

I still see him signing for the Rangers. History shows that quick rebuilds are best, and they won't aim for a long rebuild anyway, not as long as Lundqvist is still there. The only sticking point is that they traded McDonagh. That's a much bigger deal than trading Nash was.

Interesting, definitely would take the rivalry to a Hatfields/McCoy place. He would be so hated by half the Islander fan base it would be....Haha can't even put into words.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

STL. We’ll have the cap space, and would be instant Cup contenders.

Fabbri-Tavares-Tarasenko
Schwartz-Schenn-Kyrou
Steen-Thomas-Thompson
Berglund-Barbashev-Soshnikov
Brodziak, Jaskin

Edmundson-Pietrangelo
Dunn-Parayko
JBo/Gunnar-Schmaltz
Bortuzzo

They’d have some cap still for a top 6 upgrade if the kids aren’t ready or injuries happen.