John Tavares is not worrying about his contract extension. With less than a month and a half before training camp begins, New York Islanders captain Tavares prepares for the 2017-18 season. For fans, the $12 million question of this off-season is this: Can the team re-sign him before the end of the 2017-18 season? Tavares says that he wants to remain an Islander, furthermore Tavares wants to sign a contract for the right reasons.
John Tavares isn’t worried about entering this season, the last under his current deal, without an extension https://t.co/HXtSf7m3vI pic.twitter.com/KCAUNF4ff9
— Newsday Sports (@NewsdaySports) August 16, 2017
In an interview with The New York Post. He said the following about his ongoing contract negotiations,
“I think if I’m signing just to stop the conversation, I don’t think it’s really the right way of going about things. All I can do is control what I can control, be the best player I can be, work as hard as I can and try to be the best captain I can be.”
Many factors contribute to the lack of a contract. A host of which Tavares cannot control, yet he must consider them. For instance there is the ongoing arena dilemma. Barclays Center wants them out. The two sides are in negotiations with a date of January, 2018 for opt-out deals. The Requests for Proposals (RFP) process is underway for the Belmont Park redevelopment. It is a familiar story for the Islanders fans. Nearly all of former owner Charles Wang’s tenure was spent trying to acquire an arena deal, only to fall short of that goal.
Tavares looks to be considering all of the choices that he is going to have to make and is very thoughtful at every step. He considers his tenure as Capitan, and the precarious nature of life as a professional athlete recently Tavares told Newsday:
“We’ll see where it goes. A lot of those things are out of my hands. Some things I don’t try to worry about them too, too much. I’m just a hockey player. I try to be as best prepared as I can be. It’s a big decision obviously because it’s eight years of my career, really entering into my prime years and a great opportunity for myself to achieve what I set out to achieve when I was a kid, making it to the NHL, wanting to win a Stanley Cup and wanting to do that with the Islanders.”
Tavares shows that he wants to remain an Islander. He says this this during every interview and has for years. It stands to reason therefore, if they keep him, the Islanders are likely going to have to come close to matching the $100 Million dollar ($12 Million per year against the salary cap) Connor McDavid deal.
While Islanders fans lose sleep over his contract, it is unlikely that Tavares will do the same. He is doing what he has always done, preparing for the upcoming season.
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