Tavares talks on new extension with Leafs: “I obviously left some money out there”
John Tavares is well aware of the discount he took to stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs centre and the team announced on Friday that a four-year contract extension has been agreed upon, coming in at a cap hit of $4,388,420, which also includes some deferred salary.
Tavares spoke with the media after the extension was announced, and made it very clear that he had no problem with leaving money on the table to get the deal done, and give the Leafs an opportunity to add more depth to the team.
“I get to do what I love, what I’ve been doing since I was a kid,” said Tavares. “And even though I obviously left some money out there, I’ve done pretty well. I’m still doing pretty well.”
Tavares and the Leafs had been negotiating a new deal for a couple weeks, as what seemed like a certainty starting to veer towards the potential of Tavares walking in free agency. However, the two parties came to an agreement ahead of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
It’s a good thing too, as the Leafs will already be without one of their main core pieces with Mitch Marner set to hit the unrestricted free agent market and sign with a new team. Had both Marner and Tavares left, an already thin Leafs offense would have had even more trouble scoring, especially in the playoffs.
With the discount on the contract, the Leafs now find themselves with over $21 million in cap space in free agency, with the chance to really solidify their offensive depth in hopes that they can finally score more in the postseason. That had previously been tough for Toronto to do, as they usually had a lot of money tied up to Tavares, Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander, including $46.653 million last season.
Tavares also reportedly took a discount when originally signing with the Leafs in 2018, although it wasn’t by nearly as much as his new contract. When he was on the UFA market seven years ago, he apparently had offers of up to $13 million per year, but signed for $11 million with the Leafs.