John Tavares has taken that next step.

[moon111]

To me, Tavares has worked tremendously on his risk assessment.
He's been on the ice for only 3 more even-strength goals against over Malkin... who's played 16 less games.
IMHO, he's elevated his game to be someone like Patrice Bergeron who scores AND plays smart defensively.
It's not everyday you see a player go outside of his comfort box to improve as a player, especially at this
point in their career. The fact Tavares was second guessing himself like a rookie is to be expected really.
But the end product is much better. I don't believe the thinking with Tavares or the Leafs is they can simply
walk into the playoffs and outscore their opposition.

 

[stickty111]

Another nice not flashy effective game. Typical JT performance. If the 1st year JT is back, it's a huge game changer.

 

[Ashdown2]

I agree that Tavares hasn't really played all that bad this year. Some people like to whine.

he was pretty bad for those 2 dozen games when vesey was playing left wing

 

[Morbo]

another nice goal for the captain tonight.

 

[Stephen]

Appreciating his non flashy but just effectively playing a hard game and getting on the board. Beyond any kind of production metric, what's important is he's always a factor 5 on 5 and good things will happen.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Didn't have that great of a game, but still got a goal and made a few defensive plays, including a huge back check to deny a shorthanded scoring chance for the Jets.

 

[Stigma]

Didn't have that great of a game, but still got a goal and made a few defensive plays, including a huge back check to deny a shorthanded scoring chance for the Jets.

I feel like that backcheck was the play of the game. That could have easily been a goal and could have changed the dynamic and outcome of the game. Tavares raced back like a speed skater and timed his poke check absolutely perfectly.

 

[LeafGrief]

JT's been excellent for most of the last month. One of the most obvious signs is that his puck control is back. Now when he skates into three defenders at the blueline he comes out the melee with the puck on his stick. He's not dangling through guys to the net, but he's carving his way further into the zone and opening up passing lanes and spots in coverage on the rush. Whereas before he'd skate it into those guys, it would get swatted into the corner and he wouldn't have the speed to go get it back. Now he's playing faster, keeping the puck on his stick, and playing great hockey. He and Nylander are finally clicking again and it's great to see. Need the top two lines humming for the playoffs.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

 

[mapleleaf979]

Tavares is having a good year. He has a superstar level talented winger that doesnt show up 50% of the time. Its not easy to endure this. Id hate having Nylander on my line for the headtrip it would be dealing with his big sways in effort.

 

[TheKrebsCycle]

Tavares is having a good year. He has a superstar level talented winger that doesnt show up 50% of the time. Its not easy to endure this. Id hate having Nylander on my line for the headtrip it would be dealing with his big sways in effort.

What year is this from? Nylander has been a key factor in getting Tavares back on track offensively. They've been playing quite well for an extended stretch , only recently have the numbers matched the on ice product.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Tavares is having a good year. He has a superstar level talented winger that doesnt show up 50% of the time. Its not easy to endure this. Id hate having Nylander on my line for the headtrip it would be dealing with his big sways in effort.

Sounds like your trying to insult Nylander, but if you think he can score ~70 points by only showing up half the time, then you must think he's right up there with McDavid.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Tavares needs to drop the gloves to really get the his mojo going too. To many cheap shots taken at him to keep letting them go. He’s lucking that jumping elbow didn’t catch him better last game.

 

[Menzinger]

The Nylander and Tavares have no chemistry takes from earlier in the season aren't holding up well now

Either way, Tavares has been fantastic as of late and that entire line has been too

 

[Le Cobra]

Tavares Nylander Galchenyuk is one of the hottest lines we got goin. I sense Tavares has a fire in his belly right in time for playoffs

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

 

[blue stick]

Had I known he couldn’t afford his own sticks I would’ve started a GoFundMe

 

[Not My Tempo]

I assume that production was probably delayed due to COVID? Only reason I can think of as to why the $11M Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, which is a billion dollar organization, with multibillionaire owners, was waiting so long for a new batch of sticks lol

 

[BertCorbeau]

I hope JT keeps borrowing sticks. It's working for him

 

[conFABulator]

I know I am jumping into this late and echoing some of what has already been said, but I think Tavares' evolution this year is incredibly important for this season and moving forward. If JT remained "one-dimensional" as an offense-first (only) guy then this contract was going to get bad earlier than we could afford to have that happen. With his game growing and rounding out, we now have the potential for the rest of this contact to be for a player that:

• Is an offensive contributor at well above league average levels, even as offense declines as he ages
• Is another (along with AM34) top-six two-way centre that can be counted on in all three zones
• Has chemistry with Nylander and/or Marner as his wingers giving us two offensively dangerous lines
• Is our captain. A very tough job to do well in this city. His calm and collected demeanour make him ideal for the specific role...it also allows for others to own more of the spotlight without any controversy (Matthews, Marner) and for other leaders to be brought in and welcomed, again without controversy (Spezza, Thornton, Foligno)
• Considers resigning with a hometown discount as he becomes the ideal 3rd line centre for a couple of years after this deal?

We can argue if the above is worth $11M a year for four more years and maybe it is and maybe it isn't...the cap being flat doesn't help the argument, but this is what we expect when you sign a UFA for seven years. I do feel confident that this does not become a disastrous contract that we spend assets trying to get out of later though.

Of course, if he is handed the cup by Bettman at some point in the next 48 months, then it was a good signing for sure. End of discussion.

 

[authentic]

Oh wow this is good to know. He better have a bunch in stock for the playoffs.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Well that makes a ton of sense. I knew his hands didn't evaporate overnight (I thought injury at first)

 

[saffronleaf]

so weird though. richest hockey team in the world & a $11m/year investment... and they ran out of his sticks?

 

[Teeder Keon]

so weird though. richest hockey team in the world & a $11m/year investment... and they ran out of his sticks?

They should send those sticks to Soup and the Kerfootian one

 

[meefer]

Career: .943 ppg
As a Leaf: .994 ppg
This year before tonight: .916 ppg
This year after tonight's post and glove tip: .897 ppg
Had one gone in tonight: .918 ppg
Career shooting percentage: 13.2%
This year's shooting percentage: 11.7% (and heating up)
Percentage of available games played, career: 95.4%
Percentage of available games played, Leafs: 96.0%

John Tavares is a hell of a consistent hockey player.