Toronto Maple Leafs Keep John Tavares Away From Free Agency

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed former captain John Tavares to a four-year contract worth $4.38 million per season.

This new contract includes a full no-move clause for the first two seasons of the deal. For the remaining two years, Tavares has a five-team trade list, according to TSN and The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

In addition, Tavares’ contract includes $2 million in deferred compensation, LeBrun reported. That mechanism is set to be banned in the reported collective bargaining agreement extension between the NHL and NHLPA, which is scheduled to take full effect for the 2026-27 campaign.

"Coming to Toronto seven years ago has been better than I ever anticipated," Tavares said in a social media post. "The challenge of helping bring the Cup back to the many generations of Leafs fans and Leafs Nation is an incredible opportunity that pushes myself and my teammates everyday."

Tavares' contract comes under Matt Duchene’s $4.5-million cap hit on his four-year extension with the Dallas Stars, which was speculated as a comparable. It's also nearly $7 million less than the $11-million cap hit Tavares had since he left the New York Islanders for Toronto in 2018.

Tavares and Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving made it clear ahead of this signing that they wanted to make it work. The 34-year-old center wanted to play and potentially retire with his hometown team. As for Treliving, the free-agent market is thin in terms of middle-six centers.

Tavares had an excellent regular season for the Maple Leafs. He finished second on the team in goals with 38, behind William Nylander's 45. He nearly reached a point-per-game average with 74 points in 75 appearances.

It was his second-best season in terms of goals, with his career high being the first year he joined the Maple Leafs in 2018-19, when he scored 47 times. 

The veteran also averaged 18:14 in ice time throughout the regular season and recorded 12 power-play goals and eight game-winning goals.

In the playoffs, Tavares recorded five goals and two assists in 13 contests. He had three goals and five points in Toronto’s first-round series against the Ottawa Senators, followed by two goals in the next round against the Florida Panthers.

When this new contract expires, Tavares could be in the 600-goal and 1,300-point club.

He's at 494 career goals and 520 assists for 1,114 points in 1,184 career regular-season games. 

This past season, Tavares averaged about half a goal per game. If he played at least 75 games in the next few seasons and kept this pace, he could reach 600 goals in 2027-28. If his points pace in 2024-25 continues, he may also reach 1,300 points in 2027-28 as well.

If Tavares remains healthy and plays out his contract, he could join the list of players who have played 20 seasons in the NHL, potentially making a case to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Maple Leafs now have about $21.3 million in projected cap space. They have four other pending UFAs, including Mitch Marner, Max Pacioretty, Steven Lorentz and Jani Hakanpaa. Marner is expected to test the free-agent market, Treliving told reporters on Thursday.

Toronto also has three pending RFAs: Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson and Pontus Holmberg. Treliving said there's no rush on Robertson and Holmberg, as they need to figure out their other free agents first.

Jonathan Tovell contributed to this report.

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