ISLE BE WAITING
Tavares keeps Lamoriello & Co. wondering as deadline nears
If he has taken this long, why not just wait as long as possible?
John Tavares continued running the sand through the hourglass into Friday evening, having not agreed to any contract yet with the Islanders.
The captain has until midnight Saturday to sign a new contract or he will become a free agent when the clock strikes July 1. By then, the Islanders can only offer a sevenyear deal, just like the rest of the league. Therefore, if he hasn’t signed by then, it likely will be his goodbye to the Islanders.
Tavares will turn 28 by the time the season starts, and he has had a lot to weigh during the past few days. He spent the early part of the week in Los Angeles at his agent’s office, listening to free-agent pitches by the Sharks, Maple Leafs, Lightning, Stars and Bruins. He also is listening to the Islanders, the only franchise he has known since they drafted him with the No. 1-overall selection in 2009.
But the franchise has changed quite a bit since then — really, quite a bit in the past few weeks. On May 22, principal owner Scott Malkin and partner Jon Ledecky hired the legendary Lou Lamoriello to run all hockey operations. Within two weeks, he relieved general manager Garth Snow and neophyte coach Doug Weight of their duties. On June 21, Lamoriello was authorized to hand out a pricey contract to coach Barry Trotz, just days removed from winning a Stanley Cup behind the Capitals bench.
To top it off, the Islanders had what most perceived as a terrific draft, taking Oliver Wahlstrom, Noah Dobson and Bode Wilde, all below their projected slots, to replenish their depleted prospect pool.
Malkin and Ledecky have also secured the rights to build a new arena at Belmont Park, set to open for the 2021-22 season.
But apparently, all of that has not yet convinced Tavares to re-sign with the Islanders. It surely doesn’t seem like the actual contract numbers are an issue either, with an assumed deal worth between $11 million and $12 million per year, whether coming from the Islanders or elsewhere. There is a chance the Leafs offered close to a max, one-year deal around $16 million, but it seems far-fetched Tavares would give up that much security.
After nine years in the league and plenty of accomplishments, Tavares certainly has earned the right to listen to all the teams with which there is mutual interest, and Lamoriello said as much during the draft.
“I think he’s earned every right to make whatever choice he has,” Lamoriello said this past Saturday in Dallas. “The most important thing is that we hope the decision is to be an Islander.”
The decision also will color how Lamoriello approaches free agency. Surely there are a couple of backup plans, but trading for the Sabres’ Ryan O’Reilly or the Sharks’ Logan Couture is hardly a replacement down the middle. That’s the same for any signing that could be made, like Lamoriello reuniting with old Toronto running mates James van Riemsdyk or Tyler Bozak.
They are all nice supplementary pieces to a player like Tavares, who is a franchise cornerstone. He knows that, and so do the Islanders.
But as the clock keeps ticking, the odds get lower and lower that he returns.