"He still has time" - NHL insider talks about ex-Leafs captain John Tavares' “legacy” with team

NHL insider James Mirtle of The Athletic spoke of John Tavares' time as the Toronto Maple Leafs captain and how his legacy can change moving forward. The Leafs announced on Wednesday that Tavares was giving up the 'C' to Auston Matthews.

At the press conference, Tavares said it was his idea and something he thought was the right thing. Mirtle believes Tavares' time as the captain of the Maple Leafs was a disappointment (6:22):

"If you compartmentalize it to his time as Captain, then yeah, it’s disappointing. But I think the way he needs to look at it, and the way I think he is looking at it, is that his time with the Leafs isn’t necessarily over.

"He still has time for his legacy to be something different. The decision is different for everyone. Stamkos made the call that he did with Tampa, and it’s a little bit of a different situation with him leaving."

Mirtleadded:

"But Tavares can change his legacy dramatically by signing a long-term deal with a low cap hit and saying, 'I want to retire as a Leaf, and I want to take less to do it. I want to win here; the job’s not done.'

"I think that’s a realistic scenario here. If that’s the way he’s looking at it, and the Leafs are looking at it, that the legacy is not over, then it’s an easier pill to swallow."

John Tavares signed with the Maple Leafs in 2018 and was supposed to be the missing piece to propel Toronto forward alongside the core of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.

However, that didn't happen and instead, Toronto won just one playoff series in Tavares' time as captain. However, if Tavares can be part of a team that wins the Cup, he can turn his legacy around.

John Tavares said Auston Matthews has his full support as captain

John Tavares is entering the final year of his seven-year deal that he signed with the Maple Leafs in 2018.

Although John Tavares is not the captain anymore, he said Matthews is the rightful leader to help Toronto win the Stanley Cup, via NHL.com:

"I just wanted to let him know what I thought about him and that I thought the time was now for him to take charge and be the captain and be the leader of our club and how ready he was for it. He's got my full support to continue what when I came here six years ago to do and wanting to bring the Stanley Cup back here to Toronto and finding a way to do that.”

The Maple Leafs will open its 2024-25 NHL season on the road on Oct. 9 against the Montreal Canadiens.