Is Tavares like Duchene in terms of being a curse for whichever team they're on?

[saffronleaf]

Some players it seems like wherever they go it's like they're a plague they will ensure their team loses. Is Tavares like that? NYI seems to be doing great without him.

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[Dekes For Days]

The Islanders are 2-6-2 in their last 10, and 19-20-6 since their point streak, and are quickly falling out of the playoffs now that they aren't being hard-carried by goaltending.

No, Tavares isn't a curse. He's a great player.

 

[LeafGrief]

I want to come up with a pithy retort that would get all the likes, but frankly I'm a little speechless. I know that we're all pretty mad about the road trip and that JT's been crappy this year, but what on earth is this thread? We get sillier takes on here by our own fans than anything the mainboards or the usual suspects can come up with.

No, Tavares is not a curse. FFS.

 

[34]

Some players it seems like wherever they go it's like they're a plague they will ensure their team loses. Is Tavares like that? NYI seems to be doing great without him.

You have a very valid point. Tavares is definitely on the decline and he looks like a sub par player at this point in his career. The only reason he was named captain is because Babcock pushed for it.

There is no question that Matthews should have been named captain.

 

[ruaware41]

You have a very valid point. Tavares is definitely on the decline and he looks like a sub par player at this point in his career. The only reason he was named captain is because Babcock pushed for it.

There is no question that Matthews should have been named captain.

Matthews is really soft and doesn't display intangibles such as standing up for himself or teammates or any anger.

At this point Nylander is the best option for captain out of all of them as crazy as it sounds. He got lambasted and destroyed everywhere for him as a human, whether it was here or on his Instagram by strangers. Instead of just sulking he used that as fire to become one tough sob to play against. Nearly impossible to push him off the puck for example. Used that as fire to play a very intense game and grow his toolbox. I think that's worthy of praise

 

[1specter]

Stephen bout to enter

 

[Goodwith Sticks]

Tavares has 2 problems right now. New dad fkd up sleep and - perhaps more importantly - no Zach Hyman-like player on his line

Im sure his veteran leadership is in no way deficient and those who suggest Matthews should have got it are wrong. tavares or Muzzin are the only ones capable of real leadership.

 

[lottster14]

They certainly did better without him last season, but are falling back to earth this year. It's possible, as none of us know the kind of person and captain he is in the room

 

[PromisedLand]

dont think its a curse. we are pissed not because tavares as a player sucks

we are pissed we know tavares is capable of so much more; and he is just not delivering and that is what is making the fanbase antsy

 

[Boxscore]

perhaps more importantly - no Zach Hyman-like player on his line

Are we really suggesting that an 11 million dollar player's success hinges on a 2.5 million dollar player?

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

There's no magical curse. Last year he pulled his weight and was worth his salary, this year he's not. It's hard for a team to look to their leader and see him struggling most nights

 

[Goodwith Sticks]

Are we really suggesting that an 11 million dollar player's success hinges on a 2.5 million dollar player?

No, I'm more just saying that to play into Tavares strengths with the puck possession down low game having a puck recovery / space creator like Hyman does a lot for his success.

 

[6ix]

Tavares has 2 problems right now. New dad fkd up sleep and - perhaps more importantly - no Zach Hyman-like player on his line

Im sure his veteran leadership is in no way deficient and those who suggest Matthews should have got it are wrong. tavares or Muzzin are the only ones capable of real leadership.

Get real with the being a new dad excuse. Vanvleet on the raps played his best basketball when his son was born last season and had a marvellous playoff run to help the raps win it all.

Tavares is just a gutless terrible leader.

 

[34]

Matthews is really soft and doesn't display intangibles such as standing up for himself or teammates or any anger.

At this point Nylander is the best option for captain out of all of them as crazy as it sounds. He got lambasted and destroyed everywhere for him as a human, whether it was here or on his Instagram by strangers. Instead of just sulking he used that as fire to become one tough sob to play against. Nearly impossible to push him off the puck for example. Used that as fire to play a very intense game and grow his toolbox. I think that's worthy of praise

Fully agree about Nylander.

 

[Boxscore]

No, I'm more just saying that to play into Tavares strengths with the puck possession down low game having a puck recovery / space creator like Hyman does a lot for his success.

Then to your point, I honestly wonder if Tavares is regretting stretching the Leafs for an 11 mil cap hit. If he takes 9.5, they are a deeper, more balanced team. Not just Tavares either--I wonder if Matthews, Marner and Nylander ALL wish they sacrificed a little so the team could be deeper? It's only going to backfire and one or two of them are going to be somewhere else soon, unless they turn this thing around. The Leafs already fired a Hall of Fame coach--the players are going to be held accountable next IMO.

But, no, Tavares is not a curse. It's just extremely difficult to ice a contending team when 4 soft, finesse forwards are taking up 50% of your cap. It's not like their big-4 are a mix... if Marner was Matthew Tkachuk, or Tavares was Leon Draisaitl, this team is on their way to being a powerhouse.

Look at this entire West Coast trip--all of the stars were playing soft, perimeter hockey. When they couldn't dipsy-doo they became frustrated and disappeared outside of Nylander. That's not a recipe for success, gang.

 

[ruaware41]

They certainly did better without him last season, but are falling back to earth this year. It's possible, as none of us know the kind of person and captain he is in the room

Well if you google "John Tavares autism HFboards" you get plenty of hits from the Islanders board who had him for a lot longer than us and watched him mature into captain speculating on it. If nothing else guy does come across as awkward af.