Daily Faceoff&#8217;s Frank Seravalli believes that the Toronto Maple Leafs and John Tavares can work out an extension during the regular season.
During an appearance on The JD Bunkis Podcast on Monday, Seravalli was asked about the possibility of the two sides getting something done before the offseason begins. Seravalli senses that there is a pathway for an extension to be finished soon, given common ground has been reached throughout the ongoing discussions.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
&quot;There&#39;s common ground that&#39;s been found to this point. They&#39;re relatively within the same ballpark&#8230; This has the possibility to get done during the season.&quot;<a href="https://twitter.com/frank_seravalli?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@frank_seravalli</a> looks into John Tavares&#39; next contract with <a href="https://twitter.com/JDBunkis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JDBunkis</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LeafsForever?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LeafsForever</a>
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&mdash; Sportsnet 590 The FAN (@FAN590) <a href="https://twitter.com/FAN590/status/1869086099164766354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote>I do think this is a deal that can get done during the year and I think they had some pretty fruitful initial discussions going back to training camp, maybe even a little bit before that.  I think it really comes down to structure and how much of a haircut is John Tavares willing to accept to remain a Toronto Maple Leaf so long as the Leafs are interested.
This is going to be one that no one&#8217;s going to be able to bluff their way out of in the sense that we know he&#8217;s not going anywhere else. He&#8217;s not going to hit the market and tease the idea of free agency. He&#8217;s been there, he&#8217;s done that. He&#8217;s made an absolute pile of money in his career and he wants to be part of the solution to win in Toronto and do it.
But will his needs and his costs line up with exactly what the Toronto Maple Leafs are seeing? I think there&#8217;s common ground that&#8217;s sort of been found to this point. I think they&#8217;re relatively within the same ballpark is my understanding and that this certainly has the path and possibility to to get done during the season.</blockquote>
TSN&#8217;s <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/report-john-tavares-wants-to-remain-with-maple-leafs-both-parties-involved-in-ongoing-discussions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Johnston reported on November 28th</a> that the former captain has little desire to hit the open market, even going as far as to suggest that Tavares and his may be open to a contract with deferred salary to keep the number down. TSN&#8217;s <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/johnston-matt-murray-could-be-nhl-bound-soon-tavares-contract-talks-ongoing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pierre LeBrun mentioned on Monday&#8217;s edition of Insider Trading</a> that while nothing is imminent at this time, talks remain ongoing and one of the factors that are delaying the signing is where the salary cap is heading for next season and beyond.
Seravalli&#8217;s latest remains consistent with previous reports regarding the extension in terms of the likelihood of it getting done and the desire from both sides to make it work. What is interesting is that he is the first one to mention the possibility of something happening during the season.
There are <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/unless-hes-prepared-to-take-a-hefty-discount-nows-not-the-time-to-extend-john-tavares-albergas-take" target="_blank" rel="noopener">certainly some drawbacks</a> to doing it before seeing how the season goes for him and the team given the lengthy track record of playoff futility since Tavares joined the Leafs in 2018. All reports have indicated that Tavares would like to remain in Toronto given his family is from the area and his commitment to winning in Toronto remains at an all-time high. Many former players and analysts have noticed that <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/max-lapierre-thinks-john-tavares-could-be-craig-berubes-ryan-oreilly-in-toronto-leafs-morning-take" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the veteran forward has fit in nicely</a> into Craig Berube&#8217;s system.
If both sides are committed to extending the relationship and there is a number that makes sense, then there is no reason to wait to get the deal done. Whether that occurs in the middle of the season is a mystery at the time of filing, but Seravalli&#8217;s report suggests that it&#8217;s not farfetched for the Leafs to announce Tavares&#8217; extension at some point before the regular season concludes.

Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli believes that the Toronto Maple Leafs and John Tavares can work out an extension during the regular season.

During an appearance on The JD Bunkis Podcast on Monday, Seravalli was asked about the possibility of the two sides getting something done before the offseason begins. Seravalli senses that there is a pathway for an extension to be finished soon, given common ground has been reached throughout the ongoing discussions.

https://twitter.com/FAN590/status/1869086099164766354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1869086099164766354%7Ctwgr%5Eee2bd8163047a28b54ecebaafa249991d1c0bceb%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fathlonsports.com%2Fnhl%2Ftoronto-maple-leafs%2Fmaple-leafs-get-update-john-tavares-free-agent-contract-extension
<blockquote>I do think this is a deal that can get done during the year and I think they had some pretty fruitful initial discussions going back to training camp, maybe even a little bit before that.  I think it really comes down to structure and how much of a haircut is John Tavares willing to accept to remain a Toronto Maple Leaf so long as the Leafs are interested.

This is going to be one that no one's going to be able to bluff their way out of in the sense that we know he's not going anywhere else. He's not going to hit the market and tease the idea of free agency. He's been there, he's done that. He's made an absolute pile of money in his career and he wants to be part of the solution to win in Toronto and do it.

But will his needs and his costs line up with exactly what the Toronto Maple Leafs are seeing? I think there's common ground that's sort of been found to this point. I think they're relatively within the same ballpark is my understanding and that this certainly has the path and possibility to to get done during the season.</blockquote>
TSN's <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/report-john-tavares-wants-to-remain-with-maple-leafs-both-parties-involved-in-ongoing-discussions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Johnston reported on November 28th</a> that the former captain has little desire to hit the open market, even going as far as to suggest that Tavares and his may be open to a contract with deferred salary to keep the number down. TSN's <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/johnston-matt-murray-could-be-nhl-bound-soon-tavares-contract-talks-ongoing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pierre LeBrun mentioned on Monday's edition of Insider Trading</a> that while nothing is imminent at this time, talks remain ongoing and one of the factors that are delaying the signing is where the salary cap is heading for next season and beyond.

Seravalli's latest remains consistent with previous reports regarding the extension in terms of the likelihood of it getting done and the desire from both sides to make it work. What is interesting is that he is the first one to mention the possibility of something happening during the season.

There are <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/unless-hes-prepared-to-take-a-hefty-discount-nows-not-the-time-to-extend-john-tavares-albergas-take" target="_blank" rel="noopener">certainly some drawbacks</a> to doing it before seeing how the season goes for him and the team given the lengthy track record of playoff futility since Tavares joined the Leafs in 2018. All reports have indicated that Tavares would like to remain in Toronto given his family is from the area and his commitment to winning in Toronto remains at an all-time high. Many former players and analysts have noticed that <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/max-lapierre-thinks-john-tavares-could-be-craig-berubes-ryan-oreilly-in-toronto-leafs-morning-take" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the veteran forward has fit in nicely</a> into Craig Berube's system.

If both sides are committed to extending the relationship and there is a number that makes sense, then there is no reason to wait to get the deal done. Whether that occurs in the middle of the season is a mystery at the time of filing, but Seravalli's report suggests that it's not farfetched for the Leafs to announce Tavares' extension at some point before the regular season concludes.

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