Maple Leafs captain John Tavares looks to future in contract season

It's been a wild six years for the Leafs captain as the hype reached fever pitch levels when former general manager Kyle Dubas announced that he had signed Tavares to a seven-year deal worth $77 million. This signing was expected to result in long playoff runs and potentially a Stanley Cup during the early years of the Matthews era.

Dubas felt that Tavares was the missing ingredient which should lead to long term success. As all Leafs fans know along with the rest of the NHL, they have only one playoff series win during his time with the Maple Leafs and there have been numerous and sometimes disastrous playoff rounds that have left Leafs fans beside themselves.

With a new season on the horizon and only one year left on his deal, Tavares will be looking to add to his point totals as last year's numbers were not fantastic considering he makes $11 million a year. With evidence of a declining body and speed, he still managed to put 29 goals but only had 65 points through 80 games played.

The Maple Leafs coaching staff were doing all it can to try to find a way to give Tavares a better chance to rebound his numbers even putting him on the third line at times to see if he could face weaker players that could spark a new scoring line at a lower level. It worked for a period but in the end, he went back to his position as second line center for the playoffs.

With rumors circulating the web on what will happen to Taveras after his contract comes to an end, many feel that he will return to the Maple Leafs on a short-term deal with a number between 3 to 5 million dollars per year.

If he shows that his game is still decent over the next year, a deal like this could be beneficial. It would free up large amounts of cap space that the Leafs desperately need and maintain the leadership group.

Others feel that when the deal comes to an end that the Maple Leafs should move on and recuperate all his money and use it on other areas including better defenseman, a top six player with grit or sprinkle some money on the bottom 6 to help give more depth who can put the puck in the net.

It's clear that he has no desire to leave the team or waive his no movement clause so it's likely he will remain with the team at least until the end of his deal.

It's certainly a gamble for general manager Brad Treliving but likely a potential retool that the Leafs might plan could make their team better for the long run without their captain.

Source : MapleLeafsDaily.com