On Sunday night, the conclusion of the seven-year contract between the Maple Leafs and John Tavares, which began in 2018, sparked a wave of celebration from Long Island.
Up until this year, Tavares, the captain of the Leafs, had managed just two playoff series victories during his seven seasons in Toronto. The Toronto media held Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews accountable for their disappointing performances against the Panthers.
After the game, Tavares mentioned to reporters that he wanted to stay with the team, but conventional wisdom suggests that the Leafs might need to make some changes to their core players. Throughout his time in Toronto, Tavares had only scored in one of the seven games played against Florida, contributing to a total of 51 playoff games, which included an unfortunate pattern of game 7 losses.
This scenario likely gives the Islanders fans plenty of reasons to celebrate every season.
