He is a bonafide star... But if he agreed to sign in Detroit, would it be a mistake?
Do we even have enough good players to compete with Jt on our team?
It depends.
If you land Dahlin and Rasmussen is read, maybe signing Tavares is something that makes sense.
But if we draft some kid who's 2 years away and there's no real guarantee... what does Tavares really do for you?
Say he costs close to $12M.
Over the last 5 years, he's 7th in 5 on 5 points.
He's 21st in P/60
He's 13th in primary points/60
He's 38th in 5 on 5 points this year.
58th in points/60
40th in primary points.
Here's the way his points/60 is tracking
12-13 2.09
13-14 2.33
14-15 2.15
15-16 2.23
16-17 1.84
17-18 2.11
He's bounced back this year, but he's still a bit short of where he was.
His primary points are similar.
12-13 2.01
13-14 1.94
14-15 1.87
15-16 2.08
16-17 1.28
17-18 1.80
His primary points didn't rebound as well.
If CF% matters, his 48.66 is the lowest in the last six years, by quite a ways.
His takeaways/60 are way down this year.
So... $12-13M?
Man, that's a big deal.
He's probably worth it, because he instantly shores up your top 9.
Down the middle, you're running a great group.
Tavares
Larkin
Nielsen
Glendening
Realistically, you've got to move Helm or Nielsen -- if that's possible.
On capfriendly, I signed Tavares to 13Mx7y
Franzen to LTIR
Now we have 14M to complete the roster, assuming an $81M cap.
Here are the RFAs to sign
Larkin
Bertuzzi
Frk
Athanasiou
Mantha
Let's play it short with AA and Mantha.
AA gets 2 years x $2.6M
Mantha gets 2x3.8M
Frk, gets $900000
Bert gets $900000
You've got $6M left for Larkin.
So here's your team
Abdelakder Tavares Mantha
Bertuzzi Larkin Athanasiou
Frk Zetterberg Nyquist
Svech Nielsen Helm
Glendening
Dekeyser Jensen
Ericsson Daley
XO Kronwall
Wikowski
Howard.
Lose Green with no replacement.
No backup goalie.
Only 13 forwards.
And you've only got $60,000.
So realistically, no. You can't afford to bid for Tavares.
IF there was some way to clear out Kronwall (with no penalty), if Z retired (with no penalty) and if we could move out Helm...
Then you could probably go hard after Tavares and Carlson or Johnson.
Though if I did move Kronner, Z and Helm out, and sign Tavares, I think I'd save the cap room for the trade deadline or for next year.