The Players' Tribune: To the Islanders Faithful - John Tavares

[BM14]

Very thankful that such a classy and professional man has joined the up and coming Toronto Maple Leafs to live out his childhood dream.

You're the man, Mr. Tavares. Can't wait for the exciting things you'll help contribute to including the ultimate goal.

 

[Duke Silver]

If you made statements that a reasonable homeowner would have relied upon, then yes.

Also, you presumably aren't as important to the homeowners as Tavares was to the Islanders.

Any reasonable homeowner should have realized as time went on that if I was looking at other homes there's a chance they might lose me as a prospective buyer.

Your hangup seems to be that it's Tavares' fault for even considering the Isles and then not going with them.

It hurts the Isles to lose Tavares but I don't think there was any way he could have executed this where fans weren't distraught. Respect to him for making a difficult decision knowing the consequences.

 

[Blowfish]

But they weren't. With an 85 point Barzal they still didn't come anywhere close to the playoffs

Crazy to think Tavares couldn’t help that team succeed.

 

[Bood12]

I mean yeah the Islanders are clearly heading in the right direction with Barzal, and prospects like Dobson and Wahlstrom, Wilde etc., but if you were deciding on where to play, would you choose a team that is going to be Stanley cup contenders, or a team that is likely going to rebuild?

Sure the Islanders have a bright future, but you can't really blame JT for wanting to try something different, and a chance to compete for the cup after 9 years of mediocrity in Long Island

Rebuild? if Tavares is not on the team they are not re-building, they are heading in the right direction

 

[saintunspecified]

I guess my questions are

1.) when did isles fans expect him to make his decision ?
2.) how much was he underpaid on the isles? Like a million a year?
3.) how much time does 6 million dollars buy you to make up your mind?

I've actually changed my mind about the whole thing. Now that it's clear how thick he is, I'm inclined to believe that he really didn't know.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

It was a questionable move by Tavares to ask not to be traded. Snow still should have traded him at the TDL though.

 

[Eat The Rich]

Crazy to think Tavares couldn’t help that team succeed.

Yeah I mean, if he had played in net they might have finished above last place in Goals Against.

 

[BM14]

Rebuild? if Tavares is not on the team they are not re-building, they are heading in the right direction

Will that direction lead them to having an actual home arena?
Minor detail in owning a hockey team, I know.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Crazy to think Tavares couldn’t help that team succeed.

He tried for 9 years. He wants to win, the Isles were not his best option to do that. Get over it

 

[SteadyFreddie]

Rebuild? if Tavares is not on the team they are not re-building, they are heading in the right direction

With what? Andrew Ladd, Matt Martin, Komorov, Eberle, Lehner? I wouldn't call that heading in the right direction....

 

[benedictTavares]

But they weren't. With an 85 point Barzal they still didn't come anywhere close to the playoffs

Goaltending was garbage and a number of Defenseman had injury issues. The offense was pretty much the only bright spot on last years team. I would think part of the pitch Lou made was him assuring JT that they were ready to use assets/draftpicks to bring in help.

Part of me will always wonder if Lou had made a couple of significant draft day trades if he would have stayed.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Goaltending was garbage and a number of Defenseman had injury issues. The offense was pretty much the only bright spot on last years team. I would think part of the pitch Lou made was him assuring JT that they were ready to use assets/draftpicks to bring in help.

Part of me will always wonder if Lou had made a couple of significant draft day trades if he would have stayed.

Why should he wait around and hope the Islanders can compete soon when he can join another teams and see success now? He gave you guys 9 years of his time, hard work, and a bargain contract to right the ship and you didn't. If there's any vitriol that should be spewed, it should be towards your management that ran an environment that would make him consider leaving in the first place.

 

[Bood12]

But they weren't. With an 85 point Barzal they still didn't come anywhere close to the playoffs

yes and we can thank #91 for that, the Islanders were arguably in a similar position than the Leafs at the beginning of the year, an awesome offense and a less than ideal defense and goaltending situation, than in January Tavares seemed to disappear, I speculated at the time I am willing to bet Tavares is deliberately not trying as I am betting he is not interested in making the playoffs with this team, I was of course mocked at the time but now in retrospect one has to wonder, if he is abandoning a playoff worthy he is going to get killed by the fanbase as well as others fans and media around the league, now people are saying "well he is abandoning a bad team, who can blame him?" I am guessing he was worried about getting an injury also and he wanted to end the season ASAP

 

[benedictTavares]

He tried for 9 years. He wants to win, the Isles were not his best option to do that. Get over it

If he was truly only worried about chasing a cup he had better opportunities than the leafs. Islanders have been a dumpster fire for 2 decades but the leafs have not been much better. 14 years since they played past the 1st playoff round.

 

[SniperHF]

Closing this thread, the last 4 pages are almost all trolling on some level. Maybe work on extending common courtesy to other fans in the meantime.