Insider: Maple Leafs & John Tavares Have "Mutual Desire" For Extension

While all eyes in Toronto will continue to be on pending UFA Mitch Marner this season, there's another big-name free agent-to-be that shouldn't be completely forgotten, and that's former captain John Tavares.

The 34-year-old is entering the final season of his 7-year, $11 million cap hit deal with his hometown team, and he has left no doubt that he wants to retire as a Leaf. It seems that the Buds are on the same page, and that extension talks are underway.

TSN Insider Pierre LeBrun explains on Insider Trading:

There have been contract talks. There's been a back-and-forth between Tavares's camp led by agent Pat Brisson and the Leafs front office just to get the ball rolling. I don't think anything is imminent although I do hear that that dialogue is supposed to pick up again in the near future.
I don't know if there's a huge rush from the team's perspective, but listen, there's a mutual desire to get something done at some point.

In his six years with the Leafs, Tavares has registered 419 points in 440 games while recording a plus/minus rating of +11. In the playoffs, as with most members of the team over the last six years, his numbers aren't as impressive, with just 24 points in 38 games.

Tavares relinquished the captaincy of the club to Auston Matthews this summer, and now is set to enter the final year of his contract. It's obvious that he'll have to take a huge pay cut in order to sign a new deal with the Leafs, as he is certainly not an $11 million player anymore.

It'll be a very interesting negotiation to keep tabs on, though as LeBrun notes, it doesn't sound like it'll be coming to any sort of conclusion anytime soon. The Leafs have more pressing matters to work on first in regards to their salary structure going forward, like a much more costly potential extension for Marner, and even one for defenseman Jake McCabe.