Captain JT

John Tavares is one of the most impressive players the leafs have with his record beginning at the OHL all the way till now is insane, he was recognized by the OHL at the age of 14 and drafted no1 pick to Oshawa in 2005, he started playing in the OHL at the age of 15 and his first season there he finished with a total of 77 points which is insane and there was no surprise when he won OHL and Canadian hockey league rookie of the year and if you think that's impressive just wait until you hear this, his next season he almost doubled his points finishing the season with 72 goals and 134 points in total. What an outstanding season at such a young age, and that season he was named most outstanding player in the OHL and player of the year in the CHL but I doubt anyone is too surprised by that. One achievement that I'm sure he's very proud of is beating the great ones (Wayne Gretzky's) OHL goal record. He had so many achievements in the OHL and not much changed for him when he got to the NHL, he was of course drafted first overall no surprise there getting drafted to the New York Islanders after his first season he was nominated for the Calder trophy and was named to the All-Rookie team. In only his 3rd season in the league he was tying franchise records held by legends like Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Denis Potvin. His talent is incredible and rarely found and he was named Islanders captain in 2013. In 2018 something crazy happened John Tavares left the Islanders and came to Toronto, the leafs were his childhood favourite team so he said he was excited to have the chance to live out that childhood dream of being a Toronto Maple Leaf. The news of him becoming a leaf was insanely exciting for everyone in the leafs franchise I know that I was excited when I found out. Tavares did not disappoint in the slightest getting 47 goals and 41 assists in his first season with the leafs 88 points in 82 games. It did not take long for JT to be named captain of the leafs which was a very exciting day and it gave hope to the leafs. 

As we all know very well last years loss in the playoffs was very painful however what I haven't discussed is how much the loss of Tavares contributed to the results of that series. For those that don't know Tavares suffered a very serious injury in the first game of the playoffs I will put a video of it below.

I remember watching this live and I know personally it was scary watching my favourite teams captain sustain such a brutal injury such as what he did was scary enough for me so thinking about what the players must have been feeling during this time is unimaginable, there is no doubt that that was a huge contributing factor in their defeat. Not to mention that 99% of the team are young guys with very limited playoff experience all new to it so a player such as John Tavares leading this very capable team through the playoffs would've helped them a lot. Fortunately Tavares is now back in the lineup and better than ever so I'm anxiously waiting for playoffs to see what he can do because I truly believe if Tavares had not gotten injured the leafs could've passed the first round and excelled in the playoffs. That is how much of an impact that John Tavares has on the Toronto Maple Leafs and it makes him a crucial part of their lineup.