Leafs players watch as team brass makes pitch to Tavares
TORONTO — Connor Brown doesn’t want to spend a lot of energy pondering the possibility of John Tavares wearing blue and white.
At the same time, it was hard for the Toronto Maple Leafs winger — and the rest of the hockey world, for that matter — to ignore the thought of the team’s brain trust having strolled into a Los Angeles office Monday to offer their pitch to the pending free agent centre and his representatives.
Speaking at a promotional event Tuesday, Brown was well aware of the chatter after Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, GM Kyle Dubas and coach Mike Babcock made a presentation to the Tavares camp ahead of free agency opening July 1, but added the current Leafs don’t want to get ahead of themselves.
“There’s so many things being said ... around this time of year,” Brown said.
“You just wait until it all unfolds. Whoever we’ve got in the room come September, we’ve got to be ready to go.”
The New York Islanders, who drafted Tavares first overall in 2009 and are bidding to keep the his services, reportedly spoke with the 27-year-old in person Monday, with four other teams expected to do that this week.
The Leafs have improved dramatically since finishing last in 2015-16 as part of a full rebuild, securing a playoff spot the last two seasons thanks to young guns Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.
But getting a big-ticket free agent No. 1 centre in his prime — one with the fifth-most goals in the league since he entered, and a native of Mississauga — would be an earth-shaking coup.
“(Tavares is) from this area and he knows what it means to be a Leaf,” said Leafs centre Dominic Moore, who is from Thornhill. “He’s a New York Islander at the moment, and he’s a proud one
I’m sure. Depending on what he decides, he’ll have great opportunities one way or the other.”
Brown said the fact the Leafs signed then-37-year-old Patrick Marleau to a deal worth
$18.75 million over three seasons last summer shows Toronto has become a destination for high-profile free agents.
Moore, who with Brown and fellow teammate James van Riemsdyk, was promoting his charity table tennis tournament Smashfest (it raises money for concussion and rare cancer research), said playing in your hometown isn’t for every player.
“There are certain personalities, whether you’re from this area or not, maybe you don’t relish that as much as some other guys, who would rather play in a smaller market,” said Moore, who will turn 38 in August and is without a contract for 2018-19. “That’s more of a personality thing, but at the end of the day it’s hockey, it’s the NHL, it’s a very special thing to be on any team in the league.”
Van Riemsdyk, who took part in games with fans to promote Smashfest Aug. 1 in Toronto, declined to speak with the media. The 29-year-old who had a careerhigh 36 goals last season and spent the last five with the Leafs looks set for a big payday likely with a team other than Toronto.