Toronto Maple Leafs Begin Contract Talks with John Tavares

The Toronto Maple Leafs have initiated contract discussions with veteran forward John Tavares as he enters the final season of his current contract. Tavares is set to commence the last year of a seven-year, $77 million contract he signed in 2018 when he joined the Maple Leafs from the New York Islanders as an unrestricted free agent.

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reported that while discussions are underway, the Maple Leafs are not in a hurry to finalize a new contract. “There’s something happening from the point of view that there have been contract talks,” LeBrun stated on Insider Trading. “There’s been back-and-forth between Tavares’ camp, led by agent Pat Brisson and the Leafs front office, just to get the ball rolling. I don’t think anything is imminent, although I do hear that that dialogue is supposed to pick up again in the near future.”

LeBrun further indicated that there is no significant rush from the team’s perspective to renew the contract. “I don’t know if there’s a huge rush from the team perspective. I mean, listen, there’s a mutual desire between the team and Tavares to get something done at some point,” he mentioned.

For the upcoming season, Tavares will not bear the “C” on his jersey, following the Maple Leafs’ decision to pass the captaincy to center Auston Matthews in the off-season, a role Tavares had held since 2019. Last season, the 34-year-old center scored 29 goals and 65 points in 80 games, adding one goal and an assist in seven playoff games. In 2022-23, he surpassed the 30-goal mark for the sixth time in his 15-year career with 36 goals.

Tavares ranks sixth among active players with 456 career goals and eighth in points with 1,040 across his 1,109 career games. As the Maple Leafs are set to open their season Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens, Tavares is among six pending unrestricted free agents on the roster, including star winger Mitch Marner and defenseman Morgan Rielly.

In related news, the Maple Leafs have announced that goaltender Joseph Woll will be sidelined for the next few days due to “lower-body tightness.” This decision follows the placement of Woll on injured reserve, subsequently moving forward Connor Dewar to long-term injured reserve. Dewar has been dealing with a shoulder injury sustained at the end of last season, though he has participated in training camp in a non-contact jersey.

The organization faces challenges due to recurrent injury issues with Woll since he became the full-time goaltender last season, having missed significant time due to an ankle injury which restricted him to 25 games.