Why John Tavares does not owe the New York Islanders a thing

John Tavares will be a free agent at the end of the season and he and the New York Islanders have yet to come to an agreement on a contract extension.

One of the biggest stories of the New York Islanders’ season so far has been the contract negotiations (or lack thereof) between John Tavares and the team’s front office.

With the team off to a hot start this year, it is important they maintain building their future.

Here is the problem: John Tavares does not owe the team a single thing.

Since drafting Tavares with the first overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, the Islanders have only won one playoff series.

For a guy with the obvious value and talent of JT, only one playoff series victory (where he scored the winning goal) is not terrible but it signifies the team has bigger problems.

The Islanders last Stanley Cup victory was in 1983. From 1984 until the team drafted Tavares, the Islanders might have arguably been one of the worst franchises in all of sports.

Their performance was sub-par, the ownership group was a joke (note John Spano), and the Nassau Coliseum was only getting emptier and more dilapidated.

John Tavares was a highly touted prospect. Everyone thought he could be a once-in-a-generation-type talent. He was at least the obvious number one overall pick.

It was the easiest decision GM Garth Snow ever had to make: draft John Tavares. They now finally have their guy.

The second easiest decision he will ever make is signing John Tavares to a contract extension before his expires at the end of this season, which has not happened yet.

There are a ton of reasons why a deal is still not done.

Tavares has saved this franchise. He has much more leverage and knows how much he is needed. Those kinds of situations always create problems for the team because no dollar amount is really enough for the player.

Tavares, as good as he is, still does not get enough praise nationally while playing in a small market like the Isles.

Maybe Tavares finally got sick of that?

The team has not won nearly enough to build back that national recognition.

The Islanders have failed time and time again to build the best team around Tavares.

The best payers the team had around, the Matt Moulson’s, the Kyle Okposo’s, the Frans Nielsen’s, all signed elsewhere or were traded.

In hockey, a star player can only thrive so much if his line and team are weak around him.

Tavares’ line has not only been weak at times but also very inconsistent.

Could Tavares be sick of that?

At the time, moving to the Barclay’s Center was really the only option but Tavares dislikes playing on that ice. It even injured him and ended his season last year.

Tavares has every right to not feel comfortable there. If the Isles fail to land a new arena deal or fail to convince him that one will happen, Tavares will walk, and he should if that is the case.

With Belmont Parks potentially in the works, now is a great time to try to get Tavares’ name on the dotted line.

Yes, the Isles traded for Jordan Eberle in the offseason, someone John Tavares has chemistry with. That trade was obviously done to try to keep him happy as well as to win.

NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 24: John Tavares (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Islanders have done some things to help him stay. They named him Captain. They’ve also tried to make changes to get better but always fail.

John Tavares openly said how he wants to remain with the team that drafted him. He has been loyal to the Blue and Orange.

Tavares thrived in 2015-16 where the Islanders were an above average team and won a playoff series for the first time in over 20 years. He played well in the playoffs and was clutch.

They followed up their best season in two decades, and perhaps the best of Tavares’s career, by missing the playoffs the very next year.

Did Tavares give up after that? It would be understandable if he did.

Tavares should re-sign with the Islanders, but this time, they owe him. The problem is, there is a market for him elsewhere.

Teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs could swoop in. They are his hometown team and on the rise. Throwing JT in a line with Auston Matthews would dominate.

Any team would kill to have John Tavares if he chose to go there.

The Isles need to get him locked up for good. They know that, we know that, but they need to understand something:

John Tavares does not owe the New York Islanders a single thing.

Yes, they gave him a chance to play in the NHL, but any team that won that lottery would have done the same.

No, they have not been terrible every year he has been there, just most.

So, yes, he wants to stay and he is just “waiting out” all options.

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This could include the announcement of a new arena plan so he can re-sign, perhaps he is just waiting for the market value for centres to sky-rocket so he earns the most money possible, or he is waiting to see what the team does with other players too.

John Tavares is a franchise player. He openly loves playing for the Islanders, works hard to win, and wants to stay with them.

However, John Tavares does not owe the Islanders anything. He has helped them enough already.

I want John Tavares to re-sign with the New York Islanders and I would bet the ranch the New York Islanders want to extend John Tavares. But to say he owes them anything is wrong.

Next: Best and Worst Case Scenarios for the Islanders Arena Crisis

There are a lot of political and typical shady sports reasons John Tavares has not worked out a deal yet. Making sure he won’t get the short end of the stick has to be the biggest one. He does not deserve that.

All these things could factor into his new deal, whenever and wherever that may be.

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