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![John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs looks to pass in the third period during Game Four of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on May 08, 2022 in Tampa, Florida.](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/torontosun/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/1396170935-e1652125080168.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&h=216)
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4 years in, this isn’t what anybody had anticipated when the Toronto Maple Leafs signed John Tavares to a seven-year contract value $77-million.
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Least of all, John Tavares.
The considering was he ought to have received a championship by now. Perhaps even two. On the very least, he was alleged to be the ultimate piece for a workforce that couldn’t get previous the primary spherical over the hump. As an alternative, his $11-million cap hit — and the 31-year-old’s declining efficiency — has grow to be its personal kind of hump.
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And with three years remaining, it’s most likely solely going to worsen.
That’s a priority for an additional day. Proper now, with the Leafs tied 2-2 in a best-of-seven collection in opposition to the Tampa Bay Lightning that has grow to be a best-of-three, the query for head coach Sheldon Keefe is how do you get extra out of a participant who has performed so little within the 4 earlier video games?
Do you play Tavares with William Nylander? Reunite him with Mitch Marner? Put him on a souped-up line with Auston Matthews and Marner?
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Wherever and with whomever he performs, Toronto wants Tavares to start out justifying his paycheque — in addition to the ‘C’ that’s sewn onto the entrance of his jersey — if they’ll advance to the second spherical. There’s no means round it. The method for post-season success is easy, if not closely skewed. With $40-million tied up in 4 gamers, Toronto wants their top-4 to be their finest 4.
It’s that straightforward. However for the Leafs, it’s by no means been that straightforward.
In 2018-19, the Leafs bought manufacturing out of Matthews, Marner and Tavares — however not Nylander. A 12 months later, Matthews, Nylander and Tavares all produced — however Marner didn’t. Final 12 months, Nylander and Matthews mixed for seven objectives, however Marner had none, and Tavares didn’t play previous Sport 1 due to an harm.
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By means of 4 video games, the pattern has continued in opposition to the Lightning.
Whereas Matthews, Marner and Nylander have every scored twice, Tavares has been a non-factor for a workforce that wants him to be — and is paying him to be — a lot extra. After 4 video games, Tavares has no objectives, two assists and only one even-strength level.
He isn’t producing like somebody who has the fifth-highest cap hit within the league. Neither is he offering the kind of intangibles that sometimes come from gamers whose sticks have gone chilly on the worst attainable time. His minus-three ranking is tied for the worst on the workforce. He has as many pictures as fourth-line winger Pierre Engvall.
The factor is, the hassle has been there. Watching Tavares shouldn’t be like watching a participant who’s coasting across the ice, ready for the summer time to start out. It appears like he’s attempting. It additionally appears like he can now not sustain with the tempo within the playoffs. He has been gradual and ineffective. Nothing just like the participant who had been enjoying himself onto Workforce Canada’s radar by the primary half of the season.
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Perhaps he’s drained. Or hiding an harm. Both means, this isn’t what the Leafs signed him up for. On the identical time, with Ilya Mikheyev and Ondřej Kaše as his generally’ linemates, this additionally isn’t what Tavares signed up for.
When the Leafs’ pitched the Mississauga, Ont., native on Toronto, they pitched him on returning house and captaining his childhood workforce. However the larger gross sales pitch needed to do together with his teammates. Tavares can be becoming a member of a workforce that had Matthews, Marner and Nylander. And again then, Matthews was joined on the hip with Nylander, which means that Tavares was being bought on having Marner as his linemate.
In 12 months One, with Marner feeding him passes, Tavares completed third within the Rocket Richard Trophy race with a career-best 47 objectives (37 have been even-strength) and had 88 factors in 82 video games. However when Keefe changed Mike Babcock behind the bench, Nylander changed Marner on Tavares’ line, and his manufacturing has by no means been the identical.
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This 12 months, Tavares ranked fifth on the Leafs — behind Nylander and top-line winger Michael Bunting — with 17 even-strength objectives and tied for forty sixth within the league with 50 even-strength factors.
Would he have extra had he been enjoying with Marner? Maybe. But when Tavares wants Marner as his linemate as a way to produce, then Tavares was by no means value $77-million to start with. It must be Tavares driving his line, making the others round him higher, not the alternative. Nonetheless, going again to the 2019-20 playoffs, it’s now been six straight video games since Tavares scored. That’s not almost ok.
The Leafs don’t want Tavares to be their finest ahead. However he not less than must be amongst their top-4 or 5. You may’t say that anymore. Not when Alex Kerfoot has grow to be a Swiss Military knife of versatility. Not when Mikheyev has been utilizing his pace so successfully. Not when David Kampf has been so essential on the penalty kill.
The record goes on.
Perhaps that adjustments in Sport 5 and Tavares will step up and begin to lead in the way in which that he has for many of his profession. He higher. As a result of with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos having scored only one purpose every, he’s not the one one seeking to escape of a droop.
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