Soon after free-agent center John Tavares announced he had left the New York Islanders for a seven-year, $77-million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he tweeted a photo of himself as a boy, sleeping on Maple Leaf sheets and pillows and wrapped in a blanket dotted with the iconic blue-and-white logo. “Not everyday you can live a childhood dream,” he said. Losing him without compensation was more like a nightmare for scorned Islanders fans, some of whom torched Tavares jerseys instead of Fourth of July firecrackers.
Tavares, the No. 1 draft pick in 2009 and a prolific scorer who scored 37 goals and 84 points last season, was the standout in a relatively ho-hum free-agent market that opened on Sunday.