While the Toronto Maple Leafs are enjoying another strong campaign, speculation continues to grow regarding the future of half of the team’s famed “Core 4” of players including Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner.
While both Matthews and Nylander are under contract for the next several years, Marner and Tavares are eligible to become unrestricted free agents when the 2024-25 season comes to a close and the calendar turns to July.
But Tavares has once again made his intentions clear – he wants to stay with the team that he grew up rooting for, via NHL.com.
“Aside from not being able to help bring a Stanley Cup here, it’s been everything I could hope for,” Tavares said. “In fact, it’s been even better than I thought, to be honest.”
“I’ve said it before, I would love to stay and hope it works out,” he said. “I think that’s, that’s my goal and my intention.”
The Leafs host Tavares’ former team, the New York Islanders, on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto; the opening face-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST.
John Tavares is in the final year of his contract with the Maple Leafs
In a surprising move for many Leafs fans, Tavares officially handed the captaincy to American-born forward Auston Matthews during the offseason, stepping down from the role he had held since the start of the 2019-20 season. But despite the change, Tavares continues to press toward bringing the championship that has eluded the Leafs since 1967 back to Toronto.
Tavares has skated in 1,141 career games with the New York Islanders and Leafs, scoring 471 goals with 600 assists while adding 23 goals and 23 assists in 62 postseason games.
His overtime tally in Game Six of the 2023 Eastern Conference Quarter Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning remains one of the iconic moments of his career, as it gave the Leafs their first postseason series victory in 19 years.
