The Maple Leafs and former captain John Tavares are believed to be making positive strides toward a new deal, and one insider has revealed his 2 contract comparables in the discussions with Leafs GM Brad Treliving.

On Tuesday, a report from Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli drummed up some excitement in Toronto, with the trusted Insider suggesting that John Tavares and the Maple Leafs are making some major progress at the negotiating table.

Worrying trend for John Tavares could be a sign that a trade is coming | Yardbarker

Per Seravalli’s report, Tavares and the Leafs are trending towards signing an extension in-season.

On Tuesday evening, though, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun discussed the Tavares situation and poured some cold water on this one getting done anytime soon. The reason? He believes both sides are curious to see what the salary cap projections actually are.

“I don’t think anything is imminent there at this point. I think part of that ongoing dialogue is certainly both sides want to see where the salary cap is headed. We were at the Board of Governors last week and we know there are two possibilities there: $92.5 (million) for next year or a higher cap. Every dime counts when you’re the Maple Leafs.”

Recently, TSN’s Darren Dreger revealed that the walk-away number for the Leafs on a Tavares deal should be at or below $5M.

However, as Pierre LeBrun reported on Tuesday, the two closest contract comparables for Tavares both make more than $5M, suggesting that while Tavares will take less than the $8M AAV Steven Stamkos got this past summer, he likely won’t take a whole lot less than Claude Giroux or Anze Kopitar.

“Contract comparables that I know that have been talked about in that negotiation; Claude Girioux, 3x$6.5M that he signed in 2022 [and] Anze Kopitar, a 2-year extension, $7M a year. Those are contracts certainly that I think are in the ballpark of what Tavares and the Leafs are talking about.

One contract that I don’t think that Tavares’ camp has brought up is Steven Stamkos’ 4 x $8 million a year. I think that Tavares aims to be lower than that if this gets done with Toronto at some point. They want to be fair, they also want to remain a Maple Leaf, so both sides I think would mutually like to get this done at some point before July 1.”

 

It’s really anyone’s guess where the Tavares deal lands, both in term and dollars. But, one thing is for sure — the 34-year-old center came to play this season and is putting his best foot forward in a contract year with the Leafs.