John Tavares reiterates desire to return to Maple Leafs following Game 7 loss

The Toronto Maple Leafs are headed into an all too familiar offseason once again, and with Mitch Marner and John Tavares both on expiring contracts, it’s the first time in nine years of this era that seismic change up front could be on the horizon.

While Marner has expressed his desire to stay in Toronto in the past, the amount of money he’s looking for combined with an increasing temperature for change after a nine-year span with two series wins leaves his situation up in the air. Tavares, on the other hand, seems like somebody who’s less likely to test the market if he can come to an agreement with Maple Leafs management. He was asked following the game if he wanted to remain in Toronto.

“Yes.”

It’s easy to see why a reunion between the two parties makes sense. From the Maple Leafs’ standpoint, you have a guy who scored 38 goals as a 34-year-old and probably won’t command a king’s ransom compared to some of the other 2C options. From Tavares’ standpoint, he’s at the stage of his life where he’s married with young children, and packing up to move across the continent likely isn’t something he’d want to put his family through again.

“It’s meant everything to me,” Tavares said seconds earlier when asked what it’s meant to represent the Leafs. “It was a big decision I made seven years ago, and I’ve loved it and it’s been amazing for myself and my family. So, just accept responsibility, we haven’t been able to come through and play well enough to get to where we want to get to.”

Make all the jokes you want about their playoff shortcomings, but this isn’t a situation where the Leafs are headed into a rebuild and Tavares will feel the need to look elsewhere to compete for a Cup before his career is over. The Leafs have the talent to be a team that makes the playoffs every year, so he can fulfill that desire while staying close to home.

Regardless of the group of players, Tavares has faith that the Maple Leafs have what it takes to reach that ultimate goal.

“I know you guys will have your opinions, obviously management will make their decisions, but obviously a good team that’s done a lot of good things, just haven’t broken through,” Tavares said when asked if he thinks the core deserves another chance. “So, never gonna quit, never gonna stop trying.”

The Maple Leafs have yet to announce their end-of-season media session, but it will be interesting to see what kind of picture it paints for the offseason, and whether Tavares is in their plans going forward.