Tavares stays with Maple Leafs on four-year, $18M extension
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Forward John Tavares is staying in Toronto on a four-year contract extension worth $18 million total, it was announced Friday.
The deal carries a cap hit of $4.38 million instead of $4.5 million because of $2 million in deferred salary, which will be outlawed in the next collective bargaining agreement starting in 2026-27. It also includes a no-move clause for two seasons, before converting to a five-team trade list.
Tavares was set to hit unrestricted free agency as of July 1 but had expressed desire to remain with the team going forward. TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports Tavares could have landed a two-year contract with an $8 million AAV on the open market.
The 6-foot-1 centre is coming off a seven-year, $77 million contract that had an annual cap hit of $11 million.
Tavares, 34, recorded 38 goals and 74 points in 75 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season. He added five goals and seven points in 13 playoff games before his team was eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the second round.
Drafted first overall by the New York Islanders in 2009, Tavares has 494 goals and 1,114 points in 1,184 career games split between the Islanders and Maple Leafs.
Tavares was a first-team all-star during the 2014-15 campaign after recording 38 goals and 86 points in 82 games with the Islanders. He also had 47 goals and 88 points in 82 games during the 2018-19 campaign, his first with the Maple Leafs.
The Mississauga, Ont., native represented Canada at the 2014 Olympic Games in Russia, taking home a gold medal. He also represented his country four times at the World Championship, finishing as high as fourth place.
Tavares also represented Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, finishing first.