Tribute John Tavares appreciation thread

[Stephen]

Hopefully O’Reilly can return sooner than later. That way it allows Tavares to slide onto the left wing and get a little more comfortable there heading into the playoffs.

It's kind of mind boggling that we needed to bring in ROR to do Tavares' center job at a quarter of the pay or that we need a suitable defenseman to babysit Morgan Rielly. Some of our bigger star players seem to need protection more than they can drag random guys up.

 

[notDatsyuk]

The 3 assists Captain JT had last night were top notch… basically, all 3 goals do not happen without JT’s excellent play.

I remember the one where Willy picked it up behind the net and scored, and the one where he tried to pass it out front and it was deflected right to Kerfoot, but what was the other?

 

[WillyC]

I remember the one where Willy picked it up behind the net and scored, and the one where he tried to pass it out front and it was deflected right to Kerfoot, but what was the other?

You make it sound like it was a lucky deflection that the JT pass went to Kerfoot… go watch it again.

Then watch JT get the puck to Bunting on his goal.

 

[notDatsyuk]

You make it sound like it was a lucky deflection that the JT pass went to Kerfoot… go watch it again.

Then watch JT get the puck to Bunting on his goal.

I'm not sure you can call it intentional when the pass deflects off a defenceman's skate that much, but ok.

I forgot the Bunting one - thanks.

 

[Dekes For Days]

It's kind of mind boggling that we needed to bring in ROR to do Tavares' center job at a quarter of the pay or that we need a suitable defenseman to babysit Morgan Rielly.

What's mind-boggling is that there's actually people out there that believe either of those things.

 

[Zur En Arrh]

Total beast, we're lucky he chose ue. Best captain since sundin. f*** I hope we can go far this year. I so want to see Tavares as the one who lifts the first cup since 1967..

 

[Stephen]

What's mind-boggling is that there's actually people out there that believe either of those things.

When ROR got here he was plugged into 2C role right away and Tavares was shifted to wing. This is a configuration people are talking about wanting to see again once ROR is healthy, with JT given a lighter work load on LW. You didn't see ROR put on the wing so JT could ease him into life as a Leaf.

 

[Havoc]

Tavares is the 4th best out of the big 4 now, but still no.1 when it comes to overall smarts and (this has become cliche now) but "technical" prowess. We knew the cap hit would be too high by now, but we also thought we'd have a cup by now too.

If we go deep in the playoffs he's the type of player who starts to take over a series. We saw it when the Tampa players started running on fumes. He was our main guy in the latter half of the series. Probably would have lead us to a game 7 win with that clinic he put on for the goal that got waived off due to Holl's unnecessary pick attempt. I've resorted to simply saying it was unnecessary to avoid arguments on whether it was a penalty or not. The real point is Tavares didn't and doesn't need help to make those plays in the playoffs.

A good example is when we lost Sundin in the semis but Gary Roberts put the team on his back and took the Sens out by himself in game 6 and 7. Playoffs is a different breed. Tavares is built for it. Definition of pro athlete. Not the Babcock edition gud old pro. Authentic athlete.

 

[Dekes For Days]

When ROR got here he was plugged into 2C role right away and Tavares was shifted to wing. This is a configuration people are talking about wanting to see again once ROR is healthy, with JT given a lighter work load on LW. You didn't see ROR put on the wing so JT could ease him into life as a Leaf.

When ROR got here and we wanted to try a stacked top 6, meaning that one of our 3 elite centers were going to be forced to the wing, they chose to play the Selke-winning center who just got here and was already learning new systems in the role that he had played all of his life and would be most comfortable in. They moved Tavares, who had played wing in international tournaments before, to wing for a few games before shifting him back.

I'm not sure why you'd try and misrepresent that as if we were forced to bring in a center because Tavares at center was failing.

 

[Larcos_Unal]

It's kind of mind boggling that we needed to bring in ROR to do Tavares' center job at a quarter of the pay or that we need a suitable defenseman to babysit Morgan Rielly. Some of our bigger star players seem to need protection more than they can drag random guys up.

JT is a productive 2nd line center being overpaid by a good $3-4M. You could make the argument that he only lived up to year one of his contract.

All that aside, my biggest gripe is his role as Captain. He's not vocal, he lets opposing players physically abuse him without pushing back, he's pretty ineffective 5v5. Bringing ROR and to an earlier extent Foligno, says a lot about this team's leadership.

 

[Larcos_Unal]

Total beast, we're lucky he chose ue. Best captain since sundin. f*** I hope we can go far this year. I so want to see Tavares as the one who lifts the first cup since 1967..

Yes, he's better than Phaneuf but that's a pretty low bar

 

[Stephen]

JT is a productive 2nd line center being overpaid by a good $3-4M. You could make the argument that he only lived up to year one of his contract.

All that aside, my biggest gripe is his role as Captain. He's not vocal, he lets opposing players physically abuse him without pushing back, he's pretty ineffective 5v5. Bringing ROR and to an earlier extent Foligno, says a lot about this team's leadership.

I've always said that Tavares is the Marian Hossa to Matthews, Marner and Nylander's Kane and Toews, part of the core, part of the leadership group but not The Guy. Nothing wrong with it, nothing insulting, but I think he carries the A more comfortably than the C. Ideally, we have the alpha dog that barks and sets a high emotional tone and JT leads quietly by example, doing his own thing in a serious manner. And if he was paid in the $8 million range you'd never really complain about that and a quiet PPG production.

To use a dumb example about leadership, he's more Spock than Captain Kirk. He's the quiet guy and second in command. And if you're nerdy enough to be a Star Trek fan, you'll know that Captain Kirk had to come out of retirement in a high pressure situation...

Over the past few years the Leafs have gone out and always tried to import leadership in the form of Thornton, Giordano, Spezza, Foligno and O’Reilly. That’s 5x former NHL captains. If that wasn’t a missing ingredient, why would they be looking to fill it?

 

[Stephen]

Tavares is the 4th best out of the big 4 now, but still no.1 when it comes to overall smarts and (this has become cliche now) but "technical" prowess. We knew the cap hit would be too high by now, but we also thought we'd have a cup by now too.

If we go deep in the playoffs he's the type of player who starts to take over a series. We saw it when the Tampa players started running on fumes. He was our main guy in the latter half of the series. Probably would have lead us to a game 7 win with that clinic he put on for the goal that got waived off due to Holl's unnecessary pick attempt. I've resorted to simply saying it was unnecessary to avoid arguments on whether it was a penalty or not. The real point is Tavares didn't and doesn't need help to make those plays in the playoffs.

A good example is when we lost Sundin in the semis but Gary Roberts put the team on his back and took the Sens out by himself in game 6 and 7. Playoffs is a different breed. Tavares is built for it. Definition of pro athlete. Not the Babcock edition gud old pro. Authentic athlete.

Tavares has never been a particularly strong playoff performer in his entire career on the island or with the Leafs. This would be another example of all the leadership, two way play and playoff, big game pedigree attributed to a Hockey Canada star but not having actually happened.

 

[thewave]

If we don't go deep or win I just hope for a miracle and he waives.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Over the past few years the Leafs have gone out and always tried to import leadership in the form of Thornton, Giordano, Spezza, Foligno and O’Reilly. That’s 5x former NHL captains. If that wasn’t a missing ingredient, why would they be looking to fill it?

There doesn't have to be a deficiency in leadership for a team to like acquiring quality players that are also high quality leaders and personalities in the locker room. That's always going to be desired by teams, no matter what they already have.

 

[DueDiligence]

Over the past few years the Leafs have gone out and always tried to import leadership in the form of Thornton, Giordano, Spezza, Foligno and O’Reilly. That’s 5x former NHL captains. If that wasn’t a missing ingredient, why would they be looking to fill it?

Tavares as a captain is weak. If Leafs were choosing a captain today all the "votes" would be between Matthews and Marner. They are strong personalities that elevate the team. JT wouldn't be considered.

 

[stickty111]

75 points in 72 games. Pacing for over PPG. He's had a fantastic season. His dips haven't lasted too long and then gets back into form. You can talk about paying 4 all players all that money, but his contract has not been a hindurance to this team

 

[WillyC]

2 goals and an assist in a 3-2 win for Captain John Tavares tonight… lol, the debbie downers having another bad day.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

 

[Puckstuff]

I’ve ragged on Tavares a lot but managing this level of production into his 32 year old season is quite impressive. He’s 12th in points among NHL center’s and I was expecting a decline by now. I felt we never got the upside I was hoping for in his 28-31 year seasons. But his 32 aged season are outpacing my expectations. I thought the decline by now would be worse. He looks like a #1 C.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

I’ve ragged on Tavares a lot but managing this level of production into his 32 year old season is quite impressive. He’s 12th in points among NHL center’s and I was expecting a decline by now. I felt we never got the upside I was hoping for in his 28-31 year seasons. But his 32 aged season are outpacing my expectations. I thought the decline by now would be worse. He looks like a #1 C.

He's always been in that 15-20 range in points.

Those are his 3 "bad" years. He is still top 20 in PTs/60 at all strengths... And if you take out the guys who are clearly not centers (Marner, Huberdeau, Panarin, Guentzel, etc.), then he is almost in the top 10.

We forget that Tavares isn't playing 20 minutes a night like Matthews is too. We can say what we want about playing "secondary competition", but he also does not have as much of a chance to take advantage of it.

This year, he is 8th and once again, I think it is generous to call a guy like RNH a center when most of his success comes as a winger to McDavid.

Of course that penalizes guys who PK since he does not, and his numbers are boosted by being the best PP center in the league not playing for EDM. 5-on-5 offense has been a bit of a problem in the down years, mostly because his shooting percentage was bad. His assists were actually fairly good, if not among the best in his career.

 

[Goose]

I think this deserves a bump.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I've come to really hate "appreciation" threads for players who have yet to retire. I love John Tavares though.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Johnny steps up in a must-win game big time. Let's hope he can do this a few more times.

 

[WillyC]

The 3 lines spread out is the way to go… Captain Johnny Toronto leading the way tonight.