Tavares Worst Captain Ever

[Fight4yourRight]

Who cried? At the time, a franchise player and captain leaving was kind of unheard of. We were shocked like the rest of you. But then this wannabe became YOUR problem. Whos crying now?

Neutral fan here… but it really sounds like you haven’t gotten over it many years later…

 

[Perfect_Drug]

The Hockey News put such a massive jinx on this team.

This is just begging for karma to f*** with you guys. Even the subtext got jinxed.

 

[Saga of the Elk]

The Hockey News put such a massive jinx on this team.

This is just begging for karma to f*** with you guys. Even the subtext got jinxed.

View attachment 861088

at least Samsonov is having a better 2024 than Carter Hart

 

[JohnnyBerts]

The Hockey News put such a massive jinx on this team.

This is just begging for karma to f*** with you guys. Even the subtext got jinxed.

All they had to do was lock up these 3 guys for 8 years. Instead they ruined it all by signing Johnny T. Absolute insanity.

 

[AvroArrow]

Strip him of the C if he refuses to waive his NMC

 

[JungleBeat]

Even worse than Marner. He is terrible.

 

[Burkeocet]

All they had to do was lock up these 3 guys for 8 years. Instead they ruined it all by signing Johnny T. Absolute insanity.

Getting fleeced on all those deals and bringing them right to UFA with NMC’s and sky high cap hit the whole time.. insanity. This destroyed the culture of the team and ensured they’d never win. I can’t believe Shanahan and Dubas screwed that up so badly. They had all the balls in their court

 

[PositiveCashFlow]

The Hockey News put such a massive jinx on this team.

This is just begging for karma to f*** with you guys. Even the subtext got jinxed.

View attachment 861088

I’m sure it is, but just to confirm that’s photoshopped, right?

 

[BHD]

I mean... sure, he's the captain. The whole team, though, don't know how to compete.

 

[HandshakeLineRespect]

About 80% of the vitriol directed at Marner should actually be going to that emotionless mute Tavares who likely has some from of Aspergers.

 

[robertmac43]

This is a garbage post lol

 

[francis246]

Tavares is one of the worst playoff performers in NHL history if you compare his regular season PPG to his playoff PPG (wasn't terrible with Isles, brutal with Leafs). He's only won 2 series in his career. And look what the Islanders did soon after he left... they went to 2 straight conference championships, addition by subtraction. It even makes Tin Man Matthews look like he has a pulse by comparison next to the flatliner Tavares.

Just did a quick check, he’s at .762 PPG

Higher than the Sedin twins, Lecavalier, Niewndyk, Roberts, Selanne, Thornton, Brind’Amour, Mogliny, Eric Staal, Arnott, Amonte.

Not great but def no where near the worst

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Sure, I'm not saying he's a great captain.

However, what has a Brady-lead team ever done when it mattered? Early in their career Brady led teams have been less successful than Tavares led teams.

1-This isn't factoring in talent levels around them. Or are you arguing the Leafs roster during Tavares' tenure isn't any better than the Sens' roster, but the difference is Tavares performs and Tkachuk doesn't and thus that's the cause for the difference in standings?

2-You're comparing someone at the end of their career to someone at the beginning to determine who has had more playoff success. Bringing up Tkachuk originally is a flawed way to defend Tavares because it's apples and oranges in terms of how we can measure their career playoff performances. A better way would be to compare Tavares to another player who is in his 30's and has had 10+ years in the league to show what they can do in the playoffs.

Otherwise, I guess we'd all take Alexei Yashin over Connor Bedard as a playoff performer since Yashin at least saw the playoffs at some point in his career?

 

[Epictetus]

Marner is the whipping boy right now but Tavares shares in that blame.

The pitch forks should be directed against this guy.

He'll supposedly take less to stay after his deal is done to stay here. But should the Leafs even want him?

Enough is enough.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

Dion Phaneuf is easily the worst Maple Leafs captain since I've been a fan.

Dude also legit nearly hit me (crosswalk at Lakeshore and Jarvis) in his Mazerratti on my way home from work a decade or so ago.

But that has nothing to do with him being the most shit Leafs captain.

Anyway, stuff is obviously going to happen with this team in the offseason. Heads are gonna roll.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

That whole Leafs Nation team sucks and I’m not even trying to be mean. it’s a pathetic group.

well Leafs Nation does suck for being blinded by their regular season success thinking maybe one day it could translate to the NHL Playoffs.

Leafs Nation has been pretty patient though. now the Toronto Maple Leafs now they are the joke of the NHL

 

[MrHeiskanen]

The Hockey News put such a massive jinx on this team.

This is just begging for karma to f*** with you guys. Even the subtext got jinxed.

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Hockey News has no idea what they posting about LOL

 

[BraveCanadian]

Hockey News has no idea what they posting about LOL

I think they are just clickbait headlines to try and reach more than the 10s of subscribers they currently have.

I liked reading it quite a bit as a kid in the pre-internet days, but THN hasn't been relevant in a long time now.

 

[DitchMarner]

Marner is the whipping boy right now but Tavares shares in that blame.

The pitch forks should be directed against this guy.

He'll supposedly take less to stay after his deal is done to stay here. But should the Leafs even want him?

Enough is enough.

I really hope he goes elsewhere. He hasn't been the best fit here. He's not a terrible player or anything. He can help a team under the right circumstances. But I think it would be best for the Maple Leafs organization and for him personally to have him sign with another team.

 

[jiboy]

Hes trying hard but he did not age so great. Hes slow out there and he is not able to make a difference.

Probably his kind of low key quiet leadership is not the best for this group of leafs who look like they need someone more intense.

 

[SmoggyTwinkles]

He's got one more year.........it's not that big a deal.

Same with Marner right?

There's going to be interesting drama at least, which is always entertaining with the Toronto media.

 

[JianYang]

I really hope he goes elsewhere. He hasn't been the best fit here. He's not a terrible player or anything. He can help a team under the right circumstances. But I think it would be best for the Maple Leafs organization and for him personally to have him sign with another team.

The fit should have been questioned at the very start, especially in the cap world. When you already inherited matthews as your 1C, and you have other holes to fill, how wise is it to double down and throw all that cap space at another center to be your #2 guy?

I've maintained that the Tavares signing was a signing of luxury instead of necessity, and you don't go after luxuries until your necessities are fulfilled.

As a secondary center who from my viewing, seems to play down low on the PP for his time in Toronto, I think his numbers have generally been fine for his tenure, but the real problem is the roster construction. The opportunity cost went through the roof for this signing especially when the cap flattened out. Imagine having that money available to get more a lower cost but effective 2nd center... perhaps keeping kadri who became such a key peice in Colorado cup, and then still having money left over to support reilly on the top end of that defense.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Brady played more than Tavares. I don't disagree Brady outproduced him this year - but this is Brady's peak vs Tavares decline and there was less than a 10 point difference.

Are we talking the worst year of Tavares vs the best year of Brady or who you would take over their careers? Judging Tavares as a captain based on a single year at the end of his career when he's been a captain for over a decade seems pretty ridiculous to me.

I’ll take Brady’s peak of year of 83 points over Tavares worst year, as most would.

Tavares best season ever is 5 points more than Brady’s, still taking Tkachuk.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I’m sure it is, but just to confirm that’s photoshopped, right?

No it’s not photo shopped, I have that issue.

 

[DitchMarner]

The fit should have been questioned at the very start, especially in the cap world. When you already inherited matthews as your 1C, and you have other holes to fill, how wise is it to double down and throw all that cap space at another center to be your #2 guy?

I've maintained that the Tavares signing was a signing of luxury instead of necessity, and you don't go after luxuries until your necessities are fulfilled.

As a secondary center who from my viewing, seems to play down low on the PP for his time in Toronto, I think his numbers have generally been fine for his tenure, but the real problem is the roster construction. The opportunity cost went through the roof for this signing especially when the cap flattened out. Imagine having that money available to get more a lower cost but effective 2nd center... perhaps keeping kadri who became such a key peice in Colorado cup, and then still having money left over to support reilly on the top end of that defense.

Agreed. Dubas was a novice and he got excited. To be fair, though, I think a number of other individuals would have made the signing if in a position to do so.

The story was good. He was a local boy and had a reputation for being a franchise level player. Plus at the time, we didn't know exactly how good Matthews would be. I'm sure not many expected him to be a 60+ goal scorer.

Tavares aged worse than I expected. I remember even in his first season in Toronto, he would try to deke guys out and end up losing the puck because his skating couldn't keep up with his hands. He lost his puck carrying ability away from the boards a long time ago. There is no need to spend $11 mil per on a centre who is ineffective at carrying the puck and in transition. They would have been better off keeping Kadri or finding a cheaper upgrade.

In terms of leadership: He's not right for the group they have. On a team with a winning culture and less mentally fragile star players, he might be a decent veteran presence in the locker room.