The Toronto Maple Leafs made a move to put them in position to be a Stanley Cup contender, as the club signed center John Tavares to a seven-year, $77 Million contract on the opening day of free agency. The 27-year-old Mississauga, ON native reportedly turned down more lucrative offers from Boston, Dallas, the NY Islanders, San Jose and Tampa Bay to sign with the Leafs, who gave him a full no-movement and no-trade clause and $70 Million in signing bonus.
TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Tavares turned down a deal worth $13 Million per season, but chose to sign with the team that he rooted for as a kid.
Leafs center Auston Matthews reached out to Tavares during the interview period encouraging him to join the Leafs, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun and Sportsnet's John Shannon indicated that the subject of the Leafs captaincy was never brought up.
The club will hold a 4pm press conference to introduce Tavares at ScotiaBank Arena (formerly Air Canada Centre).
The Leafs own free agents have made a killing on Canada Day. Winger James van Riemsdyk is returning to the Philadelphia Flyers, as the 29-year-old winger signed a five-year, $35 Million deal late Saturday.
Veteran center Tomas Plekanec re-signed with the Montreal Canadiens on a one-year, $2.25 Million deal. Defenseman Roman Polak is also on the move, as the 32-year-old Czech returns to the Central Division, signing a one-year, $1.3 Million deal with the Dallas Stars.
The chatter on Tyler Bozak had been comparatively quiet this weekend, but about an hour before the Tavares announcement, the 32-year-old center signed a three-year, $15 Million contract with the St. Louis Blues.
The Leafs may still be in the market for defensive help and one possible target is defenseman Calvin deHaan, whose season with the Islanders was shortened to 33 games due to injury.
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Another possible move that could happen today or later this week is a trade of winger Matt Martin. The 29-year-old winger was limited to 50 games last season and only played three times after the All-Star Break with young forwards Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson getting playing time.
Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported on Sunday that the Leafs have informed other teams that the tough winger is available for trade and he might attract some interest after Toronto paid his $1.5 Million signing bonus, leaving just his base salary of $1 Million for the upcoming season.
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