New York Islanders John Tavares Focused on Negotiations (Report)

The good news keeps on coming for the New York Islanders. It seems that John Tavares is focused on negotiating with the team, and the negotiations may have already started.

Going into the 2018 offseason the New York Islanders had a few items to sort out. First was to figure out that mess of a front office. The second was getting John Tavares to sign an extension with the only team he’s ever known.

For most of us, that order was reversed. Mainly because we didn’t actually think for a second that Garth Snow was actually going to be replaced. But that also meant we had little hope of Tavares sticking around. Because, well, it was Garth. And then Lou Lamoriello was hired.

Within two weeks of being hired, Lou fired Garth Snow and made himself GM. He fired Head Coach Doug Weight on the same day. And before even being officially hired by the Islanders he’d already held an introductory meeting with John Tavares.

Now it seems that that introductory meeting has evolved into a full-on negotiation.

Everything Coming Up Isles

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Lou Lamoriello and John Tavares’ camp have been in daily discussions over the past two weeks on an extension.

First Lou comes in. Then Garth goes. And now this. Everything is coming up Isles, and I’m loving it. There’s so much positivity around this franchise that it’s infectious. Did I have a bad day at work today? You bet I did. But the Islanders are seemingly talking extension with Tavares so I don’t care about what may or may not have been said at work.

Signing Tavares was the single most important thing for this franchise to do. Outside of cleaning up the situation in the front office. And the Islanders couldn’t get Tavares without cleaning up the front office.

None of us thought the Isles could actually do both. Clean up shop and sign Tavares to an extension? That was a pipedream.

We had no hope of keeping a player that’s scored 621 points in 669 NHL games since being drafted first overall in 2009 by the New York Islanders. He was as good as gone. Even those of us like me that said Tavares was going to stay still had that crippling fear in the back of our minds.

Tavares was gone and there was nothing we could do about it.

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Tavares has been able to talk to the Islanders about a new deal for almost a full year now, and this is the first time we’ve been told he’s potentially done so. Thank God for Lou Lamoriello.