Why Maple Leafs’ John Tavares has bolted out as ‘just a beast’

LAS VEGAS — Reports of John Tavares’s regression are greatly exaggerated.

The Toronto Maple Leafs captain has quietly stormed into his 14th campaign with a purpose, preciseness and productivity that trumps the beginning of every season he’s had for his boyhood bedsheets club since 2018-19.

Not since that maiden voyage in Blue and White, when the consistent centreman was partnered with puck magician Mitchell Marner, has Tavares burst out of the gates like this.

Through six games, the 32-year-old holds the team lead with three goals, seven points, and a dominant 58.5 per cent success rate in the faceoff circle. He ranks second among Leafs in shots (24) and has moved his feet well enough to avoid taking a single penalty.

His oft-criticized puck management, too, has improved. For the first time in a decade, Tavares’s takeaway-to-giveaway ratio (8-5) is on the positive side of the ledger — no small feat for a guy who likes to hold on and create.

“Hot! He’s hot. Real hot. It’s impressive,” beams fellow Torontonian Wayne Simmonds. 

“He’s Mr. Steady. You know, he’s always even keel. He’s always doing the right things. And he’s a guy that leads by example, and that’s the reason he’s our captain. He’s been unbelievable this year.”

Because of the matter-of-fact way Tavares conducts his business — and because cap-savvy fans recognize he’s not exactly underpaid at $11 million a pop — the man almost gets taken for granted at this stage in his journey.

That Tavares reached the 900-point mark last week against the Arizona Coyotes was barely a footnote in the teams’ disappointing loss. Not one reporter asked him about the milestone.

His celebrations aren’t gif-worthy. He doesn’t slam helmets in frustration or deliver the emotional rah-rah speech. He doesn’t fly up the ice with a glorious flow whipping under his helmet or dangle three opponents into knots before lighting the lamp.

Tavares simply grinds away in O-zone cycles, backchecks in the D-zone, drives to the smart scoring zones, and cashes in on power plays. (Yes, 5-on-5 goals get more respect, but those PP points count just the same.)

Take Tavares’s performance Saturday in Winnipeg, for example.

He slickly tips Auston Matthews’ point shot for his first goal, then makes a wonderful skill move in tight to toe-drag a puck and zip it high and tight past Connor Hellebuyck for a second.

“He’s just been a beast out there,” Matthews says. “It’s been a lot of fun to watch.”

It wasn’t only the goals, though. While fellow centres Matthews, Alexander Kerfoot and David Kämpf were all getting eaten up at the dot, Tavares went 11-4 in faceoffs that night.

Tavares’s line with William Nylander has undergone upheaval — first Denis Malgin, now Nick Robertson — yet it’s been the most reliable of the Maple Leafs’ offensive units to this point.

“I’m just trying to be myself, I think. Be productive. Consistent. Continue to evolve my game throughout my career, and obviously (I’m) playing with some pretty good players,” Tavares explains.

“So, continue to read off them and use my skillset to best help them and try to make them better. And make plays and contribute when those opportunities come.” 

Tavares is cashing in on those opportunities, in part, because coach Sheldon Keefe is placing him in prime positions to succeed. The captain’s offensive-zone starts (66.2 per cent) are up over his career average (58.7), while his ice time (18:04) has settled to its lowest point since he was that celebrated rookie on Long Island.

How and how often Tavares is used plays a role in keeping him fresh. So, too, did a focused, dedicated off-season in which the workhorse could train free of worry from that frightening concussion that ended his 2021 postseason prematurely.

“He was healthy all through it, and he could really push and really challenge and look to add to his game and improve his game,” Keefe says. 

Then a strained oblique in preseason action threw another obstacle in Tavares’s path and cast doubt whether he’d be available for opening night. There he was, ready to go, a week earlier than projected. (Tavares notes that he’s learned to stop attaching dates to injury recovery; that helps with focused rehab each day.)

“Didn’t get the same momentum going into the season that others might have had, and it doesn’t seem to have affected him. If anything, maybe that time off has given him a little more juice,” Keefe continues. 

“Yeah, he looks really good. Two very important goals for us (Saturday). But more important than that, I think he’s just been really good in each game. Five-on-five he’s been really good.”

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The past three seasons, Tavares has hovered a shade under a point-per-game. The way he’s skating now, it’s no stretch to imagine an 80-point resurgence.

“He’s had an amazing start. He’s playing extremely well for us. He’s doing a lot of really, really good things,” Morgan Rielly says.

“He’s our leader. So that’s what you expect. When he’s out there doing what he’s doing, it’s a big boost for our club.”

And a giant slap in the face to Father Time.

One-Timers: Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford earned the right to stick in the lineup Monday, while winger Pierre Engvall draws back in on the third line for Zach Aston-Reese. This marks Aston-Reese’s first healthy scratch as a Leaf…. Ilya Samsonov — off to the second-hottest start of any goalie beginning his Toronto tenure — goes for a fifth consecutive win…. The pucks should start to fall for Auston Matthews any day now, right? “I think it’s just inevitable,” Tavares says.

Maple Leafs projected lineup Monday in Las Vegas: 

Bunting – Matthews – Marner  

Robertson – Tavares – Nylander  

Engvall – Kerfoot – Järnkrok  

Clifford – Kämpf – Simmonds  

Rielly – Brodie  

Sandin – Holl  

Giordano – Mete 

Samsonov starts 

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