John Tavares Inks Sweetheart Extension With Leafs

John Tavares Inks Sweetheart Extension With Leafs

John Tavares is a man of his word. He wanted to stay in Toronto and took significantly fewer dollars to do so.

The Leafs second line center is signing a four year contract and will now carry an AAV of $4.38 million. A big time discount compared to the $11 million AAV he was under the last time around.

Darren Dreger of TSN was the first to report the news:

4 years $4.38 aav for Tavares

— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 27, 2025

Tavares, 34, scored 38 goals last year. There’s no question that bigger money was out there for Tavares. Leafs general manager Brad Treliving even admitted so.

“No doubt my mind, there was more money for John outside of Toronto,” Treliving said, per Sportsnet’s Luke Fox. “His commitment was to find a way to make it work for him in Toronto.”

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Tavares also had this to say on Instagram to announce the news of the new extension with Toronto.

“Coming to Toronto 7 years ago has been better than I ever anticipated. The challenge of helping bring the Cup back to the many generations of Leafs Fans and Leafs Nation is an incredible opportunity that pushes myself and my teammates everyday. TO is an incredible place to play and it’s an honour to pull on the Maple Leaf and wear the blue and white.”

“I’m thrilled to announce that I’m committed to four more years! My family and I are excited to continue our journey here in Toronto. The best is yet to come!”

Go Leafs Go!’

-JT

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