There might be a couple contract blueprints out there for a guy who wants to stay in blue and white for the rest of his career.
John Tavares has made no secret of the fact that, despite the enormous attention — and money — he’d draw on the open market as a free agent, his first choice is to remain with the Toronto Maple Leafs squad he signed with as a UFA in 2018.
Of course, even with a rising salary cap, the Leafs must be mindful of the books. Speaking on the latest edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman highlighted a couple contracts that could serve as potential templates for the 34-year-old Tavares and the Leafs.
One is the six-year deal Tavares’ current teammate, Chris Tanev, inked with the Leafs last summer — when he was 34 years old — and the other is the six-year deal centre Yanni Gourde, 33, signed with Toronto’s Atlantic Division rival Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this week.
The common theme? Going longer on term for a veteran player, thereby keeping the annual cap hit lower and affording the club some more flexibility under the cap.
“I could see Toronto pitching that,” Friedman said. “It worked with Tanev; obviously that (six-year deal with an AAV of $4.5 million) is going to take him right to retirement. Obviously Yanni Gourde was very happy to (sign for six years) in Tampa, a thing that Alex Killorn (who left Tampa as a free agent in 2023) and Steven Stamkos (who departed as a UFA last summer) were not willing to do.”
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While Friedman didn’t throw any specific numbers, he did acknowledge the Leafs would surely be paying more for Tavares than the $2.33 million Gourde will count for against Tampa’s cap.
“I don’t think it would be as low as [Gourde’s cap hit], but I can see Toronto pitching that structure to Tavares,” he said.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Colorado Avalanche just locked down their second-line centre of the immediate future when they inked 33-year-old Brock Nelson to a three-year deal that carries an AAV of $7.5 million.
The Avs have been one of the busier teams for six months now, dating back to the huge January swap that sent Mikko Rantanen to Carolina and returned — among other assets — Martin Necas.
With the team now committing to Nelson, who was a trade deadline pickup, Friedman says there’s plenty of speculation about what kind of reverberations that could have as it pertains to Necas. The top-six Czech winger is halfway through a two-year deal he inked with Carolina last summer, a contract length he desired because it walks him to unrestricted free agency in 2026.
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Could the Avs move him before he can potentially walk for nothing in 12 months, while also freeing up a little more space for next year? Or now that he’s in a new spot, would Necas extend before hitting free agency?
“Do I think Colorado is going to have to do something because the salary cap says it will? I wouldn’t be surprised,” Friedman said. “But I’m trying to figure out exactly what that’s going to be.
“Necas has another year before he’s a UFA. He told Carolina he would sign the two-year deal to [bridge to] UFA and he wouldn’t do anything else. I’m still waiting to determine if that’s in any way different now.”
