Insider: Maple Leafs Working On Extension For John Tavares

His contract has one year to run, and he just handed over the vaunted captaincy of the Toronto Maple Leafs to Auston Matthews on Wednesday morning. But what we're hearing now, is that this does not mean that John Tavares's run in Toronto is necessarily coming to an end.

According to hockey insider Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts podcast, talks have begun behind the scenes to work out an extension for Tavares to continue and possibly finish his career in Toronto.

One of the things I still think is in play for Tavares is a potential extension. It's been discussed, I think it will continue to be discussed, and I don't think it's impossible that we see Tavares get extended as a Toronto Maple Leaf. I think that is something that both sides are considering.

Obviously, this would have to be a very team-friendly deal if the Leafs are open to it. The days of $11 million AAVs are long gone for the now-former Maple Leafs captain. His 7-year, $77 million deal is up at the end of next season, and the team will be breathing a huge sigh of relief — as in cap relief.

But if the soon-to-be 34-year-old is willing to take a steep pay cut, then it sounds like he will get to continue to live out his childhood dream of playing for the Maple Leafs, quite possibly for the rest of his career.

He might not be the dominant 30- or 40-goal scorer that he once was, and he wasn't the key cog to lift the Leafs into playoff glory as the team had hoped, but Tavares still managed 29 goals with 65 points in 80 games this past season, his first time not near the point-per-game mark since coming to Toronto in 2018.

Despite the constant grumbling around Leaf Land that the team needs to break up the so-called Core Four, that might not be what the front office has in mind.