Tough blow to John Tavares, who’s “already got a chip on his shoulder”…

At the start of the 2024-25 season, insider Pierre LeBrun reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs and the camp of veteran forward John Tavares were talking, just to get the ball rolling, on a new extension. Tavares, of course, calls Toronto home where he has been raising a family and would love to reire as a Leaf, however, signs point to a heartbreaking ending for the forward.

Speaking on their podcast Real Kyper & Bourne, co-hosts Nick Kypreos and Justin Bourne spoke about Tavares’ role and how his ice time has been affected since the start of the season. Bourne pointed out that Tavares hasn’t been playing as much:

“You look at his ice-times against Montreal where he played 18:48, but that was 6-on-5 for the last what, three minutes of the game where was out there. Then he plays 15:04 against New Jersey. Plays 16:10 last night, and how many powerplays? Four power-plays? You are watching his role be diminished in front of our eyes. He’s becoming the third line center, it’s happening.”

To which Kypreos chimed him so more on the former captain’s role on the roster:

“We saw the really brilliant goal in New Jersey where he shows in tight he can still make good places and shoot the puck in the net, it was if I’m not mistaken 5-on-5. Last night he got a nothing burger off a backhand, it wasn’t even him though it was Copley. It’s called a catcher’s mitt, use it. Outside of that it wasn’t exactly a 5-on-5 display by John Tavares and his linemates and that to me is a huge question mark.”

This quickly led to trade rumours and what could happened to Tavares with Kypreos being perplexed at first with everything that has happened to the veteran forward since this summer.

“Uhh. I think if you were to move Tavares you’d of done so in the offseason whether or not you wanted to take 50% of that contract, that $11M, could you have found someone to bite for $6-7 million? I don’t know. I think it would get easier for a team that may want to be on the outside looking in, pushing towards January / February.”

Though Kypreos’ thoughts quickly shifted to Tavares and how he’s been treated since Auston Matthews took over the captaincy in Toronto and how he may not want to help out with his no-movement clause if approached around the deadline to move out:

“You ask him about taking the ‘C’ off the jersey, now this? This would be a huge distraction, a major, major story. He’s already got a chip on his shoulder.”

Leaving Toronto would be heartbreaking for Tavares, and I am sure fans would also have an issue with it. With just a year left on his massive seven-year $77 million deal he signed as a free agent in 2018 in Toronto, Tavares has always expressed the desire to stay put and end his career with the Maple Leafs.

As of now, Tavares needs to deal with the pressure, his new role on the team and load of trade rumours… That’s added to that chip on his shoulder.