I don't judge Tavares the person. I think he's harmless, I don't think he's egotistical, but it can't be denied that he's a heavy personality; always serious. If Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews, and Morgan Reilly are chugging beers, I think John Tavares would be doing the same thing he did in the Islanders photo. I wouldn't expect a great social experience with him. I don't like how he handled his free agent situation, but I don't think he's a bad person.
As for the player, there are several reasons why I won't miss him. In a league that keeps getting faster, he never was. He is, however, one of the league's strongest players on the puck, probably 2nd behind Sidney Crosby, but he has no wheels. His skating is so labored, and at the age of 28, it won't get better. Though, he was drafted in 2009, he was an old 2009 draftee, and that makes a difference because he's closer to 30 than most of those guys. To put it in perspective, when we signed Alexei Yashin to that mega deal in 2001, he was 27, almost 28, and I was wondering what the hell Milbury was thinking (and we all wonder that, often). True, Tavares isn't temperamental the way Yashin was, but Tavares is temperamental in a different way. Tavares works harder than Yashin did and, so far, he honors his contracts, but Tavares doesn't dominate game in and game out the way Yashin once did... when he was with Ottawa.
With their young stock of Matthews, Marner, and let's just say Reilly, Dubas and co. could learn that Tavares' contract is an albatross, which was one of my concerns about re-signing him. Our dead weight is dead weight, and should be fairly easy to dispose of, but Tavares, who's going to hit 30 in a little under two years, could be a player who other teams don't want because he's not fleet of foot and is becoming easier to strip the puck of. His reflexes won't quicken.
With the Islanders, it's not unreasonable to believe that, as early as this year, Barzal is feeding a trigger man like Bellows, especially on the power play, and racking up points. Next year it could be Bellows and Wahlstrom on Barzal's line who are firing pucks into the net almost at will. Maybe Jack Hughes is on the team next year, which is a reasonable possibility when considering that many expect the Islanders to miss the playoffs and the way the lottery works.
When listening to those who are concerned about the Leafs, their biggest concern is about the defense. Yes, we have defensive concerns also, but it appears that we have some answers back there. One of them is the coaching staff and the other is Devon Toews, who has been having an awesome camp thus far.
Yes, Barzal is better than Tavares. No, I don't hate Tavares, I just won't miss him, that's all.
