NHL insider proposes John Tavares trade to Utah Hockey Club

PUBLICATION

Graham Montgomery
June 10, 2024 (11:19 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a tough spot this summer after yet another disappointing season, potentially leading the team to make some tough choices including trading John Tavares.

Most of the trade buss this offseason has surrounded Mitch Marner, who is entering the final year of his contract with the team next season. However, conversations with Marner have apparently stalled, as he is adamant about playing for the Leafs next season. Given that he has a full no-trade clause, that could potentially lead the team to explore other options, including trading their captain, John Tavares. Jeff Marek recently floated the idea of Tavares being traded to the Utah Hockey Club.

Marek on Tavares: "I had a conversation with someone who wondered about a team like Utah and here's why, Utah has a lot of young players, Logan Cooley is an obvious one, Utah is most likely in the business for veteran players on short-term deals and the theory is that they could offer Tavares a pretty healthy number on a 2-yr contract as a why to entice him to waive a no-trade, would that make sense to you?"

Marek makes a reasonable point here. Utah could do very well by adding a player like Tavares. Furthermore, the team has been linked to the Leafs at times in rumors surrounding Mitch Marner. However, Elliotte Friedman more or less shot down Marek's idea by stating that he is reasonably certain Tavares will still be on the Leafs next season.

"Everything can always be made to make sense to me but I am under the impression that Tavares is going to play in Toronto next year"

That being said, this does not mean the Leafs cannot consider giving Tavares a slightly reduced role next season. After all, he started to show signs of age-related decline towards the end of the regular season. One fan proposed giving the captaincy to Auston Matthews.

John Tavares was named captain under Kyle Dubas and Mike Babcock following the reveal Auston was charged with disorderly conduct and disruptive behavior.

New GM, new coach, 6 years later.

I think it's time we revisit Matthews for captain this year

Matthews seems like the most realistic option for the team's next captain anyways, and it could take some of the burden off Tavares. However, whether or not the team would consider making such a move remains to be seen.

Source: HockeyPatrol
John Tavares linked to Utah Hockey Club by Jeff Marek live on air