New York Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky says that the club’s superstar captain, John Tavares, will not become a free agent when his current contract expires in the summer of 2018.
Islanders co-owner: Tavares won’t be a free agent in 2018 https://t.co/v96hIbHiPcpic.twitter.com/NBReJFsEIR
— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) July 17, 2016
Not only is Ledecky and the Isles committing to Tavares, they are determined to bring a Stanly Cup to Brooklyn in the near futue.
“We should be the world-class destination for free agents,” Ledecky said, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday. “If you think about a capped world, everybody can spend to the cap, and we certainly have no constraints on our (general manager) and our staff to spend. We want to create and continue to progress toward John Tavares lifting that Stanley Cup, so we should be world-class in everything we do.”
New York has had a busy offseason, signing the likes of Andrew Ladd, Jason Chimera and P.A. Parenteau. The club drafted goal-scoring forward Kieffer Bellows with the 19th overall pick in this year’s draft.
http://gty.im/91379794
Tavares, 25, has two years remaining on a six-year, $33 million contract. He was drafted by the Islanders with the first-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
Since making the jump to the NHL immediately after he was drafted, Tavares has consistently been near the top of the league in point production. In 510 games, he has tallied 471 points. He won an Olympic gold medal with Team Canada in 2014 and is a three-time all-star.
He is slated to play for Canada in September’s World Cup of Hockey.