Marquee players on the move set stage for season

It’s rare for a franchise player in his prime to leave an NHL team via free agency or trade. This off-season, it happened twice. Toronto signed John Tavares away from the New York Islanders to make the biggest splash in free agency.

The 28-year-old centre with a $77 million, seven-year contract sounds motivated to validate his hometown Maple Leafs making such an investment in him.

“I think there’s a lot to prove,” Tavares said. “Resting on what you’ve already done is where you can kind of get caught especially as your career goes on. Every day, each season, you have to go out there and prove yourself again. ”

Tavares, a five-time All-Star, had 80-plus points last season for the third time and has averaged nearly 70 points over his nine-year career. And, he’s regarded as one of the best twoway players in the league.

After missing out on the Tavares sweepstakes in July, San Jose acquired 28-year-old defenceman Erik Karlsson from Ottawa two-plus months later.

“We were looking for a differencemaker,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said. “There’s not many of them in this league.

“There’s not many of them that come available.”

The Sharks gave up a package of young players and picks to get the five-time All-Star and two-time Norris Trophy winner to greatly improve their chances of competing for the Stanley Cup.

In another notable trade, the Vegas Golden Knights bolstered their shot at repeating as Western Conference champions by acquiring forward Max Pacioretty from Montreal earlier this month. They’re expecting him to bounce-back from an injury-shortened season to contribute 60-plus points as he has five times in his 10year career.

The St. Louis Blues acquired centre Ryan O’Reilly , who set an NHL record for winning 1,273 faceoffs last season, in the hopes of avoiding a second straight season without a playoff appearance.

Not all the big names came via trade. The Kings beat out other suitors to sign Ilya Kovalchuk to a threeyear, $18.75 million contract. The 35year-old, three-time All-Star forward has been playing in Russia since leaving New Jersey and the league in 2013.