After signing John Tavares to a four-year, $4.38 million AAV contract extension, General Manager Brad Treliving discussed Tavares accepting a hometown discount and his belief in Tavares’ ability to maintain a high level of performance deep into his 30s.
Can you talk a little bit about why you wanted John Tavares to stay, and what it means for him to stay at the number he signed?
Treliving: It is a really good day.
I want to start by giving a lot of credit, first and foremost, to John. We talked at the end of the year about John’s want and desire to be here and to win here. His commitment was illustrated by what he did here.
We would all agree there was going to be an opportunity to make a lot more money elsewhere. His focus was on staying here. His work, his commitment, and his desire steered the process on this negotiation.
Full marks and credit to John and his representatives, and on our side, Brandon Pridham. It was a team effort, and it was led by John.
Why we wanted to keep John — he is a really good player. He scored 38 goals and was a point-per-game player last year.
I understand John is at the age that he is. We all expect aging curves to kick in at some point. John has been able to defy it, and it is a credit to the way he looks after himself and the commitment that he has to his craft and his body. His preparation is second to none. We expect John to be a really good player moving forward.
We wanted John here. He plays a premium position and is a really good player for us.
Do you project Tavares to play the same role as a second-line center next year? What have you learned about his ability to maintain a high level and what do you expect from him over the course of this contract?
Treliving: We are in the process of building our team now. We expect John to be a really important player for us. As the team-building process continues over the course of the summer, we will see how everything sorts itself out. I don’t speak for Chief right now, but we will see how everything plays out in terms of the team building.
There are some guys who can play well into their mid-to-late 30s. I don’t necessarily think that just because you get to 33, 34, or 35 years old that all of a sudden, your career is over. It certainly comes with a little bit of genetics, but there is a lot of work that goes into it. I don’t know if there is a more committed athlete that I have been around in terms of his preparation, how he looks after himself, and the work that he puts in. He is second-to-none that way.
I look at John maintaining his level. We will see. Father Time is undefeated, but I know we are going to have a really good player here, and we expect to have a really good player for the foreseeable future. That credit goes to John for how he prepares and looks after himself.
How rare is it to find a person like Tavares who is willing to take a hometown discount?
Treliving: There are a lot of factors that go into play here, right? Certainly, money is an important factor, and it should be for everybody. Players have only a certain amount of time in their careers. I don’t begrudge any player for trying to get the most they possibly can.
There are team dynamics. We are obviously in a salary-cap structure here. We had a shared goal at the start of this. John wanted to be here, and we wanted John here. We tried to be as creative as we possibly could to serve both masters of trying to find a deal that is going to work for John in terms of the dollars and work for us from a cap perspective.
I go back to what I said in the opening. This deal doesn’t happen at the dollars that it does and cap hit that it is at for a player like John without a player like John’s true commitment to being here. The credit goes to him.
When we get to next Tuesday or Wednesday, there is no doubt in my mind that there was more money for John outside of Toronto. His commitment was to find a way to make it work for him in Toronto.
Once gave up the captaincy, how important has Tavares’ role remained in terms of leadership, and what impact do you picture him having next year and beyond on some of the younger players?
Treliving: I didn’t expect his role to change a whole lot in terms of what he brings from a leadership standpoint. John is a great role model, whether it be young players or veteran players, in how he prepares. If you talk to anybody in our locker room, he is an absolute role model for how you prepare yourself, how you look after your body, how you prepare for games, and how you go about your business. To me, it is a big part of leadership.
I didn’t expect any different. We didn’t get a different John this year than what we had. He showed a great deal of selflessness with the captaincy and understood what we were trying to accomplish there.
It is just a credit to the individual. It is no different than what we are saying today. John was selfless in looking to put this contract together.
John, the man, has been the same individual, the same teammate, and the same person around his teammates today that he was when I first got here. This is just another example of John’s commitment to doing his part for our team to be as good as we possibly can be.
When it comes to Tavares and his preparation, can you share a moment when you witnessed it firsthand and what it looks like?
Treliving: You see it every day. In terms of a specific [example], John was here yesterday, and he has his routine that he goes through off the ice. He has his routine that he is working on with his game on the ice. If we go on a one-day road trip, you think John is leaving for three weeks because he has a number of bags with him with different apparatuses that he uses off the ice in terms of stretching, plyometrics, and all sorts of things.
It is a lifestyle for him. Anything that goes in his body, the food he eats, his preparation to get ready for practice or for a game, and what he does after a game — it is constant. To me, it is a complete lifestyle and routine that he has found that works for him.
There is certainly a God-given talent that John has and has had since he was a young man. People have known about John Tavares since he was a young lad, and that is part of the equation, but you don’t get to where he is and have the career that he has had without a lot of elbow grease and a lot of work.
It is a daily thing for him. He is committed to his lifestyle and how he takes care of himself. There is not necessarily an “aha” moment, but you see it from the minute he walks into the facility each day to the moment he leaves. You know what he is doing over the course of the offseason and away from the arena. He does everything to make sure he is at his very, very best. It is impressive.
The NHL and NHLPA announced a CBA extension. You have been through other lockouts. How much of a relief is it?
Treliving: Any time you can have labour peace and stability, it is certainly a positive. The league and the PA worked long and hard at getting this deal put together. There is a true partnership. It should be commended.
The game is in a great spot. It is growing. It is entertaining. The fact that we are able to get an agreement done that ensures stability, cooperation, and partnership moving forward is a credit to the league and the players.
It was certainly great news to hear today.
When you are putting together these contracts with an unprecedented knowledge of where the cap is moving in subsequent years, how much does it help in terms of your roadmap for building a roster?
Treliving: It is like anything else in that it helps you plan a little bit. As every team goes through its modeling and how their picture plays out, it gives you a better idea of what the future holds, versus in years past, we would be getting to about this time before we would have a sense of what the cap calculations are going to be for the coming season. You can make some assumptions and so on and so forth, but certainly, giving yourself a little bit of a roadmap going forward is helpful. It has been a positive thing that everyone is thankful for.
