For the entire offseason, despite reports to the contrary, it seemed like a John Tavares–New Jersey Devils marriage made sense on paper. Unfortunately, the latest reports show the Devils are officially out of the Tavares sweepstakes.
John Tavares is now down to six teams on his list of free agent destinations. The New Jersey Devils were not on that list.
John Tavares and his reps no longer plan to bring any additional teams into their free-agent process after meeting with Dallas and Tampa today.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 27, 2018
The field is down to six: Leafs, Islanders, Sharks, Bruins, Stars and Lightning. #TavaresWatch
The Devils never really got to the table on Tavares discussions. Maybe he’s still too loyal to the New York Islanders, as he also spurned the New York Rangers and no other Metropolitan Division team made the list. However, he could be looking at the team in general.
Of the five teams still in the race for Tavares besides the Isles, all but one went further in the playoffs than the Devils. While New Jersey was a nice surprise last season, it still remains to be seen whether they can sustain that success.
Yes, Tavares would have been a welcomed addition to the Devils roster. He would immediately make them a playoff contender, and possibly more. However, it wasn’t meant to be, and it’s time to move on.
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Just because the two biggest pieces of the offseason are off the table for the Devils (John Carlson being the other piece), that doesn’t mean the offseason can’t still be a success. James Van Riemsdyk becomes a much bigger need for the Devils. Yes, he’s going to be very expensive, but he will be nowhere near the $11-13 million that Tavares will cost. JVR will cost closer to $6-7 million on a six or seven year deal.
Despite the Devils being out of the race, there’s good news to the Tavares news. It looks more and more like this superstar will be moving outside the division. The Islanders were the favorite coming into the offseason. They seemed like huge favorites after adding Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz. Now, they feel like major underdogs.
The Devils can move on to their next phase of the offseason. This dream was nice while it lasted, but now it’s over.