With free agency set to begin on Sunday, John Tavares is the one player on every NHL team's wish list. The Islanders center will reportedly be meeting with six teams this week at the Creative Artists Agency offices in Los Angeles. According to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun, Tavares has meetings with the Boston Bruins, the Toronto Maple Leafs, the San Jose Sharks, the Dallas Stars, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the incumbent New York Islanders.
Confirmed teams that John Tavares will meet with this week at CAA offices in L.A.: Dallas, Boston, San Jose, Toronto, Tampa (plus of course NYI). The Tavares camp will also have conversations with 2-3 other teams over the phone and perhaps also meet with 1-2 of them.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 25, 2018
As LeBrun reports, Tavares' camp will also speak to several other teams, with potential meetings in store.
The Islanders have been doing everything in their power to show Tavares that they're serious about rebuilding a winning team, and doing it quickly. Lou Lamoriello has taken over as the President of Hockey Operations and the GM for the Islanders, and one of his first moves was to hire Barry Trotz as his coach. Trotz won the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals last season before leaving to pursue more money, which he got with the Islanders.
The other thing that the Islanders can offer the 27-year-old Tavares is an eight-year deal, while every other team can only offer him seven.
Currently, the Oilers' Connor McDavid has the center market set with a contract that averages $12.5 million per year. The next-highest paid are Jonathan Toews ($10.5 million) and Anze Kopitar and Jack Eichel ($10 million). Tavares is expected to get a deal in the $11-12 million range.
Last year, Tavares had 84 points with 37 goals, just one off of his career-high. He has 272 goals since joining the Islanders in 2009, and 349 assists.
Tavares' most likely suitor is still the Islanders. The Islanders have the most available cap space in the NHL, and Tavares has never been shy about voicing his passion for the team. The Maple Leafs are probably the only other real challenger, and not because of Tavares' Ontario origins. The Maple Leafs can pay Tavares with their $24.7 million in cap space, and it isn't a stretch to say that they're in a more immediate "win-now position" than the Islanders.
The Bruins are a dark-horse candidate, with their top line locked in until 2021 and Zdeno Chara being the only real impending free agent there. The Stars have the funds, but a new coach and a young roster makes that situation a shot in the dark for Tavares. And the Lightning and the Sharks, while two of the more competitive options, have a lot of people to pay and are top-heavy as it is in terms of cap space -- particularly the Lightning, who have to worry about Nikita Kucherov becoming an RFA next season.
Wherever he goes, Tavares immediately becomes a top-line center. Although the Islanders weren't able to come to terms on an extension before he could speak to other teams, their pitch has been self-explanatory to this point.
