The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without their captain for the next three weeks because John Tavares has been ruled out for so long with an oblique strain suffered over the weekend, according to Lance Hornby of Postmedia.
A three-week absence essentially ends Tavares’ training camp and likely rules him out for the first regular season games, as the Maple Leafs are slated to open their schedule Oct. 12, just 15 days away. Although it won’t be a big part of the season, Tavares is now 32 and missing training camp will only put him behind the competition when he returns. Toronto was hoping for a big season from its captain, who is still one of the highest-paid players in the league well past the seven-year contract he signed in 2018.
At the time, the bet the Maple Leafs made was that the salary cap would continue to rise, making Tavares’ $11 million cap a little more palatable. Due to the COVID shutdown and a fixed salary cap, the veteran center remains the league’s fifth-highest cap, now in the fifth year of the deal. Although he’s still an exceptional player – who scored 76 points in 79 games last season – many have argued that his contract has limited the Maple Leafs’ success in recent years, arguing depth would be more beneficial for a directed roster by Auston Matthews. .
Whichever side of this debate a Maple Leafs fan positions themselves on, losing Tavares over the next few weeks is certainly not ideal. The team will need to find another player to fill the second-line center role for the time being.
