Tavares understands Leafs ‘weren’t very good’ – and embraces radical roster turnover
LAS VEGAS – John Tavares was the last interview of the day…by multiple hours. The sun had set long before he arrived to speak at the NHL Player Media Tour, classy as always, thanking all the reporters in attendance for their patience. But while he was understandably weary after a long day of travel: the spring in his step was unmistakable. His handshake was strong. He had a palpable energy speaking about the Toronto Maple Leafs’ rapidly approaching 2026-27 regular season.
And it’s hard to blame him, whether you believe in the radical changes GM John Chayka has made or not. The Leafs have practically constructed an entire new team around core players like Tavares, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Matthew Knies and Morgan Rielly. If we peek at the Leafs’ projected lineup for this coming season, we’re looking at six new forwards: first overall draft pick Gavin McKenna, former Matthews junior linemate Jack Roslovic and seasoned checkers Teddy Blueger, Nick Paul, Colton Sissons and Brandon Duhaime. On the blueline, top UFA signing Darren Raddysh and analytics darling Emil Andrae join the fray. Future Hall of Famer Sergei Bobrovsky teams with Anthony Stolarz in net now, reuniting a Stanley Cup winning Florida Panthers duo. With Chayka replacing Brad Treliving as GM, franchise legend Mats Sundin stepping in as a senior executive advisor and Jim Hiller taking over from Craig Berube as head coach…the sheer amount of change is unprecedented. Only an expansion franchise would have more new faces to acclimatize at once.
Tavares, who remains the team’s elder statesman and veteran leader despite conceding the captaincy to Matthews beginning last season, understands the challenge of achieving chemistry with a dramatically overhauled roster, but it’s an exciting problem to have, really.
“I think that’s what’s fun about the game,” Tavares told Daily Faceoff Tuesday evening. “There’s no perfect formula or script for any situation. It’s always trying to work your way through things and adapt and evolve, and do everything you can, and give yourself the best chance for success, and not only that, to make the experience of it all really special. And for everyone to come together, and to pull the rope in the same direction and try to go on this journey that you hope is something you’ll never forget.
“So, yeah, it’s all part of it. That’s what’s been really impressive with John and Mats so far, just all the details they’ve had, not only building the team, but everything they’re trying to do to bring the team close together, and get that continuity, that chemistry as quickly as we can, on and off the ice.”
A great way to get a head start on bonding with a new teammate: having him live with you. The Tavares family has opened its doors to Gavin McKenna, giving the rookie a chance to spend every day learning not only from another No. 1 overall pick but one whose methods are famously revered and emulated by other young players in Tavares.
When Tavares was 18 and a fresh New York Islander, he lived with a veteran star center in Doug Weight, sponging up everything Weight offered. What will Tavares focus on teaching his new protégé and potential linemate?
“I think you just want him to be himself,” Tavares said. “There’s a reason why he is who he is and the position he’s in. So he doesn’t have to come in and look to change or do a number of different things. I think just come in and try to soak it in. You’re a rookie once in the NHL and have this amazing opportunity to just enjoy it, be driven, compete your ass off and have fun with it. You’re going to have a tremendous number of resources, influences, mentors, people within the organization, on the team, that are going to do everything they can to help you along the way. And there’s going to be ups and downs, but that’s part of the journey, part of the learning. And you get to live your dream. You’ve been thinking about this for as long as you can remember. You’ve really got to enjoy it and have fun with it. So I’m excited to be there along with him as a teammate and just remember what it was like for myself.”
At the same time, Tavares was playing in Long Island in 2009, a passionate market but nothing like the pressure cooker of Toronto – and it was pre-social media ubiquity. McKenna has an unique challenge ahead of him; he’ll be scrutinized even more than Matthews was 10 years ago after going No. 1.
“It’s definitely different than what I had experienced, so I think that’s why even more, I felt like offering up the opportunity [to live with me], if it made sense for him and for the organization to have him be with me was positive,” Tavares said. “Because I just think being able to come home and disconnect from it all – and the attention that can be a lot of times, especially just being 18 years old and from a small town, and a more remote place out in the Yukon – can be really positive for him. Hopefully some of my experiences can be positive for him, and I think I’m going to get a tremendous benefit as well, so I’m excited about it.”
Tavares is also excited to have Bobrovsky on his side for a change. He broke the Leafs’ hearts in the 2022-23 and 2024-25 playoffs as a Panther, posting a combined .922 save percentage across five- and seven-game series wins. Yet Tavares’ isn’t simply hoping ‘Bob’ will stop the puck as often as a Leaf as he did as a Panther; he also knows Bobrovsky has the reputation as one of the league’s most impactful teammates off the ice.
“[How] he’s aged and how he takes care of himself has become kind of legendary, and who he is as a goaltender, as an athlete,” Tavares said. “So, really excited to be around him, because of the skill set, the pedigree, what he’s going to bring to the team, and the quality of goaltender he is, but also I think the leadership aspect, because of how he goes about his business, and what he invests, and what the sport means to him, and what he’s trying to do to help the team, and everything he puts into it.”
“There’s no one like him,” said Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov, now Bobrovsky’s former teammate, at the Player Media Tour this week. “The way he was here for seven seasons, it was just incredible. We’re gonna miss him a lot as a person, really that type of guy who you look up to every single day, what he does. Personally, I learned so much from him just watching him, just looking at him, just seeing what he does day to day, how we tries to get better, Even at his age. I think he’s what, 37, 38, he feels like and looks like he’s early 30s, maybe even late 20s. That’s what you want to be as a perfect human being and athlete. For sure, we’re gonna miss him a lot.”
Is the Leafs’ enormous, risky roster experiment going to work? Can Bobrovsky bounce back from a down 2025-26 season? Will Raddysh repeat his relatively late career breakout as a buy-high signing? Will McKenna meet the hype? Nothing is guaranteed. But it seems like Tavares, who always has the temperature of the team, accepts now that this level of wholesale change was needed for the franchise.
“It was tough to see when ‘Tree’ was let go, and it was the sign that obviously changes were starting and coming,” Tavares said. “I think you just always have faith that we have a really good nucleus of a team and that unfortunately last year, it just went off the rails for us a little bit, and we got off track. And you try to take the ownership and understand that we have to just do a much better job, and clearly we weren’t very good, and it’s resulted in a lot of change, and when that happens, take responsibility, and look forward, learn from it, and embrace what’s ahead and what the change is bringing.”
The chess board has been turned over, replaced with more than half a dozen new pieces. As for whether they all fit cohesively? The time for speculation is almost done, and the hockey will give us the answers.
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