Tribute John Tavares Discussion Thread

[Stephen]

Tavares was a mistake. The team is in complete disarray under year one of his “captaincy.”

 

[Maple Leaf]

Tavares was a mistake. The team is in complete disarray under year one of his “captaincy.”

They should trade him this season before his inevitable decline

 

[LastOne2100]

Rushing the rebuild will haunt us for the next 5 years, if not more.

People say fire Dubas, but you have to fire Shanahan. The impatience with the rebuild started with Lou and contracts like Marleau's.

Signing Tavares was just another mistake under his tenure.

 

[Lemontree]

Leadership isn’t on one player regardless if he is the captain or not. You would expect all the vets to be leaders which also includes Spezza, Muzzin. Outside of the few rookies and new to North America players the rest of these guys have been in the NHL long enough to figure their own stuff out.

 

[Willchel Marlynder]

They should trade him this season before his inevitable decline

I won't lie and say I was disappointed when JT was signed, but I wanted that cap space to go towards a D man instead.

Put Marner and JT back together. Marner is a more consistent playmaker than Nylander and that's what JT needs. Matthews will score with whoever he plays with.

 

[LeafsNation75]

I won't lie and say I was disappointed when JT was signed, but I wanted that cap space to go towards a D man instead.

Put Marner and JT back together. Marner is a more consistent playmaker than Nylander and that's what JT needs. Matthews will score with whoever he plays with.

Let's say they didn't sign Tavares what other defenseman would you have wanted them to sign if you are talking about a big name. Drew Doughty had signed an 8 year extension with the Kings and the only other big name that might have became a UFA was Karlsson, however he waited until he was allowed to sign an 8 year extension with the Sharks and this year he was horrible and is now out for the season due to injury.

 

[BertCorbeau]

I won't lie and say I was disappointed when JT was signed, but I wanted that cap space to go towards a D man instead.

Put Marner and JT back together. Marner is a more consistent playmaker than Nylander and that's what JT needs. Matthews will score with whoever he plays with.

I knew that signing him would put the Leafs in a tight cap situation over the long term

I knew that eventually he'd decline through the contract.

I'm happy to see his production is fine.

But I'm surprised as his leadership of this team. I get the impression he just hasn't been able to rally the dressing room together and gel. Particularly on the bench in games where they have melted down.

 

[Stephen]

Tavares is a disaster. Absolute zero leadership.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Tavares is a disaster. Absolute zero leadership.

Tonight wasn't just on Tavares, it was also on Matthews, Marner and Nylander. Did you notice how Keefe wasn't playing any of them and that includes Tavares late in the 3rd period after icings.

 

[Stephen]

Tonight wasn't just on Tavares, it was also on Matthews, Marner and Nylander. Did you notice how Keefe wasn't playing any of them and that includes Tavares late in the 3rd period after icings.

Stop defending this guy. Cut out the captaincy nonsense, the big contract, the big storyline about a hometown kid and he's just an overpaid mercenary and it's not working out.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Stop defending this guy. Cut out the captaincy nonsense, the big contract, the big storyline about a hometown kid and he's just an overpaid mercenary and it's not working out.

I said how Tavares and their other high priced players were the problem in the 3rd period, so the blame should go all around and Sheldon Keefe saw it that way as well.

 

[Stephen]

I said how Tavares and their other high priced players were the problem in the 3rd period, so the blame should go all around and Sheldon Keefe saw it that way as well.

They're all a problem, and are criticized in their own personal threads.

 

[Antropovsky]

Tavares is a disaster. Absolute zero leadership.

Sign him at 28? Hell yea everyday of the week.

Picking Tavares as a captain? Well i think picking him as a captain is like picking Kaberle as a captain years ago.

 

[Stephen]

Sign him at 28? Hell yea everyday of the week.

Picking Tavares as a captain is like picking Kaberle as a captain years ago.

As time goes on, the Tavares signing feels like it had more hidden costs than we knew at the time. And I'll leave it at that.

 

[Antropovsky]

As time goes on, the Tavares signing feels like it had more hidden costs than we knew at the time. And I'll leave it at that.

Tell me more please.

I think the mistake isnt Tavares, its letting Hainsey, Brown, mcbackup go in favor of Gauthier, Marincin, Ceci, one of Johnsson or Kapanen (likely Johnsson) , kadri for Barrie...although barrie may have worked if we kept hainsey.

Injuries have taken the toll too...

 

[hfman]

Tell me more please.

most often the leaders are the ones without the C

those guys perform the best


but when you slap the C on those guys then that ruins it



The true performers prefer to stay out of the spotlight, that's when they operate the best

 

[Stephen]

Tell me more please.

Hey, if love the results, all the power to you. As it stands, Tavares has no leadership abilities, has never won anything in the NHL and is a disaster headed towards a non playoff finish.

 

[LeafsNation75]

most often the leaders are the ones without the C

those guys perform the best


but when you slap the C on those guys then that ruins it



The true performers prefer to stay out of the spotlight, that's when they operate the best

It's not like Tavares was like Dion Phaneuf who was named captain after only playing 26 games when he was traded from Calgary to Toronto. We all know that Tavares has experience of being the captain with the Islanders and he played all 82 games last year before getting the C this season.

 

[Antropovsky]

Hey, if love the results, all the power to you. As it stands, Tavares has no leadership abilities, has never won anything in the NHL and is a disaster.

I edited/elaborated on my post .. i agree he lacks leadership ability. BUT i think the mistake was giving him the C, the mistake isnt the fact we signed him.

Marner at 10.9 million... a number that opposing teams wouldve had to give 4 firsts for... i think this is more of an example of Dubas rushing the rebuild.

 

[Third Degree Burns]

The rebuild was entirely f*cked once we signed him. Probably wouldnt be in the defensemen position we are currently in had we jist stayed on course. Yes, we may have been worse in these years without him but we are now stuck in mediocracy with limited cap space.

 

[LeafsNation75]

Hey, if love the results, all the power to you. As it stands, Tavares has no leadership abilities, has never won anything in the NHL and is a disaster headed towards a non playoff finish.

I know your going to say I'm defending Tavares and etc, I'm just stating what is obvious. He hasn't won anything at the NHL level because for 9 years with the Islanders he was playing on some bad teams. When they did make the playoffs they only won 1 round in 2016 and that was because of the way Tavares had been playing.

During the Islanders final game of the 2015 season he had 2 points and looked be on his way to winning the Art Ross Trophy. However that same night Jamie Benn had 4 points and won the award by having 1 more point with 87 compared to 86 for Tavares. So that was something he lost which was beyond his control.

 

[Third Degree Burns]

and gd i know fighting isnt big anymore but could 1 of these overpaid nerds sack up and take one for the team?

 

[LeafsNation75]

Marner at 10.9 million... a number that opposing teams wouldve had to give 4 firsts for... i think this is more of an example of Dubas rushing the rebuild.

You don't think the rebuild was rushed when Toronto made the playoffs in 2017, because let's be honest no one and not even Leafs fans saw that happening prior to that season. So if that never happened do you think we would have seen Lou Lamoriello go out and sign Patrick Marleau to a 3 year contract worth $6.25 million, when he was over 35 years old.

 

[Boxscore]

Hey, if love the results, all the power to you. As it stands, Tavares has no leadership abilities, has never won anything in the NHL and is a disaster headed towards a non playoff finish.

This is extremely accurate.

It was always puzzling to me that the Leafs would sign Tavares when they had one of the best, young, offensively-gifted emerging teams. Then, I was absolutely floored when they named Tavares captain over Matthews.

This would be like the Pens or Hawks bringing in a veteran player who accomplished nothing in their career and naming them captain over Crosby or Toews when they were young.

The Leafs looked awesome when Rielly, Matthews, Marner and Nylander hit the scene. They had an amazing, young core. Matthews, Marner and Nylander thought this was their team--then suddenly here comes Tavares, with the 2nd highest cap hit in the NHL behind McDavid--entering the picture and being handed the C. Did anyone think the young stars would give the Leafs a discount after they paid Tavares all that money?

And like you said--what has Tavares won to warrant that type of treatment? It's not like the young Leafs were bringing in Mark Messier with 5 Cups on his fingers to lead the team a few years until Matthews was ready.

This team belonged to the homegrown kids. Matthews should have been captain. Tavares' money should have been spent on defense, grit and depth.

 

[Antropovsky]

You don't think the rebuild was rushed when Toronto made the playoffs in 2017, because let's be honest no one and not even Leafs fans saw that happening prior to that season. So if that never happened do you think we would have seen Lou Lamoriello go out and sign Patrick Marleau to a 3 year contract worth $6.25 million, when he was over 35 years old.

I think they wanted a family man, a veteran, someone who has been through alot in the nhl to mentor the young guys. A former captain, a player whose abilities were questioned early in his career, a former top 3 pick, a player whose played many many games, a player who has won gold, played in many post seasons...has faced many adversities..stripped of his captaincy. Someone known for his defensive abilities, his iron man run... etc etc. The #1 choice... of course not...but he was available.

I dont think they expected marner, matthews, nylander to command 30 million on rfa deals. They also could not of known Tavares was gonna hit ufa.... the list of unknowns never end.

The problem isnt marleau or even having to give up a 1st for him, almost all teams have these issues.

Having to give up a 1st to get rid of Marleau due to Matthews, Marner, Nylander developing to the point they need big contracts and signing a 28 year tavares was the best case scenerio when looking towards the future.

This team needs a hard ass like babs... firing him was probably the right move, the team seemed to have quit on him. Problem was bringing in a rookie players coach with no experience. He should have brought in a nother veteran coach, and maybe the young leafs would get that the nhl isnt a cake walk. Babs may not be likeable, but expectations remain with all coaches.