Even with the hometown advantage, it was no sure thing that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be able to win the John Tavares free agency sweepstakes. As the best player on the market, he would field interest from many teams around the league.
But, of course, the Leafs got him. Quite the splash for Kyle Dubas in his first ever day of free agency as a NHL general manager.
Dubas appeared on TSN 1050’s OverDrive to describe the process that led to Tavares coming home, and Leafs fans may be thrilled to hear that the team anticipates to be able to keep their young core of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander together even after inking Tavares to a seven-year, $77 million contract.
“We went through a very stringent process internally where we went through [our cap situation] over and over ... to ensure that, regardless of different variables that may interject themselves into this process as it goes along, that we’re going to be able to keep that core of our team together.” —Kyle Dubas
While Tavares is still very much in his prime at the age of 27, it’s great news for fans that the Leafs won’t compromise on their future by risking team control over Matthews (20 years old), Marner (21) and Nylander (22).
You never know how things may unfold, but thanks to their young talent, the Leafs are every bit as flexible as they are competitive. That’s an enviable position for any franchise to be in, and Matthews himself played a part in recruiting Tavares.
Other topics discussed on OverDrive included the moment that the Leafs learned that Tavares would be signing with them (they hadn’t even discussed contract details yet!) and how they sold him on their hockey program instead of just leaning on the hometown factor in their pitch. You can listen to the full interview here.
