Tavares focused on getting Islanders right, not free agency

TORONTO --John Tavares didn't hear the talk-show callers fiercely debating whether he'd be a good fit with the Toronto Maple Leafs next season.
He didn't have to hear them Wednesday to know it was happening.
Having grown up in Oakville, Ontario, a 30-minute drive west of Air Canada Centre, the 27-year-old center is well-educated in how such speculation runs rampant among Maple Leafs fans 12 months a year.

The future of the pending free agent was front and center in the New York Islanders dressing room after a 5-0 loss to the Maple Leafs. Coupled with a 4-1 loss to the visiting Florida Panthers on Tuesday, the Islanders have been outscored 9-1 in their past 120 minutes.
With the NHL Trade Deadline at 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 26 less than four weeks away, New York's Achilles' heel remains on the defensive end. The Islanders have allowed a League-high 188 goals, often scuttling the high-end offensive production of Tavares, Josh Bailey and rookie Mathew Barzal.
In digesting the disappointing loss, Tavares said what moves are and aren't made before the deadline will play a role in his eventual choice whether to stay or go.

"I think anyone in my position, or any free agent if I get to that point, will factor everything into the decision," Tavares said. "I think everything plays a part. That's why I want to do everything I can to make the [Stanley Cup] Playoffs."
As Islanders general manager Garth Snow contemplates potential trades that might improve their defense or goaltending, or both, Tavares admits he has chatted about his situation with another player from the Toronto area, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos.
The advice given by the Tampa Bay captain: Just worry about playing and tune out the white noise.
Of course, Stamkos knows firsthand just how much of that there is in Toronto.
When the Lightning came to Air Canada Centre to play the Maple Leafs on Dec. 15, 2015, radio station TSN-1050 handed out signs outside the arena that said, "SIGN STAMKOS."
With Stamkos able to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2016, the hope of the Maple Leafs fan base at the time was that the Lightning forward would join the team he rooted for as a kid. Stamkos grew up just north of Toronto in the community of Markham, and his dad, Chris, was friends with Maple Leafs play-by-play announcer Joe Bowen.
In the end, the Maple Leafs made a strong push to sign Stamkos, even setting up a meeting when he was wooed by Toronto Mayor John Tory and Michael Medline, the former president of Canadian Tire Corp. Stamkos eventually decided he wanted to continue his quest to win the Stanley Cup in Tampa and signed an eight-year contract with the Lightning on June 29, 2016.
From that moment on, Maple Leafs supporters turned their attention to another local-kid-done-good: Tavares, the Islanders captain who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.

Tavares has consistently maintained he'd like to remain with the Islanders and was front and center at a Dec. 20 press conference when co-owner John Ledecky unveiled plans for an 18,000-seat arena at Belmont Park.
Of course, that hasn't stopped Maple Leafs fans from fanning the Johnny-T-to-TO flames. On Wednesday, the talk on sports radio centered around a potential one-two punch of Tavares and Auston Matthews up the middle. Or Matthews and Tavares, whichever order you choose to put them.
The Tavares talk served as the pregame appetizer to the Islanders' first visit to Air Canada Centre this season. There were no signs being handed out on the sidewalks outside this time around, but one kid did have a banner pressed up against the glass during warmups that said, "JOHNNY, COME HOME!"

Unfortunately for Tavares, this was the unkindest homecoming of all.
With the Islanders trailing 3-0 in the second period, Tavares appeared to have a simple tap-in to get New York on the scoreboard. Instead, the puck rolled off the end of his stick, allowing down-and-out Maple Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen to smother the puck.
Less than two minutes later, Tavares had Andersen at his mercy again. This time, his attempt was thwarted when Andersen lunged to make a glove save.
After the final horn sounded on a five-goal loss, Tavares was dejectedly leaving the ice when one Maple Leafs fan yelled, "Hey Johnny, we're good enough without you!"
Maple Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello likely knows if they have legitimate interest in Tavares if he makes it to free agency. As usual, Lamoriello's not talking.
Matthews and forwards Mitch Marner and William Nylander each has a contract expiring within the next 17 months, meaning the Maple Leafs likely would have to cast one of them adrift to accommodate a long-term contract for Tavares. At this point, it wouldn't be Matthews.
Tavares, for one, isn't thinking about that right now. Although he watched the Maple Leafs play at this same rink as a kid, his only concern is reaching the postseason with these Islanders.
As for again being asked Wednesday about what lies ahead for him this offseason, he said he has no issues with such queries.
"I don't see letting the questions be the reason I'll make a decision," he said. "We're all professionals."
His concerns are more immediate.
"It's really unacceptable the level we are playing at," he said. "You are not going to win too many hockey games or be in it the way we've played the past couple of nights."