Latest news with #JohnTavares
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Matthew Schaefer's Immediate Reaction to Being Drafted No. 1 Overall
Matthew Schaefer's Immediate Reaction to Being Drafted No. 1 Overall originally appeared on Athlon Sports. It was the worst-kept secret in the National Hockey League. In the weeks leading up to the 2025 NHL draft on Friday, there was nearly zero mystery about who the New York Islanders were targeting with the No. 1 overall pick. Advertisement It didn't take the Islanders long to make their way to the podium after NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who was mercilessly booed by the packed crowd at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles — an NHL tradition — announced they were on the clock. New York selected 17-year-old defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the consensus No. 1-ranked player in the draft class, and cameras caught the moment he heard his name called. Matthew Schaefer is selected as the first overall pick to the New York Islanders in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft at Peacock Lee-Imagn Images Schaefer's dad Todd was noticeably emotional, perhaps even more so than his son, who became the Islanders' highest draft pick since they took center John Tavares No. 1 overall in 2009. 'It's a dream come true,' Schaefer said on the broadcast after being picked. 'I'm super thankful that the whole [New York] organization took a chance on me and they won't be disappointed.' Advertisement Schaefer, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound blueliner, logged seven goals and 22 points in 17 OHL games this season, where he played a shutdown role as the top defenseman on the Eerie Otters. Schaefer also has some solid international experience, winning gold with Team Canada at the 2024 World U18 Championship and the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. Related: Islanders Trade Star Defenseman Noah Dobson in Draft Day Blockbuster Related: Sabres Turned Down Multiple Blockbuster Trade Offers for JJ Peterka: Report This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 27, 2025, where it first appeared.
National Post
8 hours ago
- Sport
- National Post
LEAFS NOTES: Toronto not feeling a first round draft as picking starts
The Maple Leafs weren't out to quench any thirst for a first in Friday night's first round of the National Hockey League draft. Article content Having made their bed, trading the 25th pick to Chicago for Jake McCabe two years ago, they seemed ready to sleep through the opening chapter versus trading up and get back to work Saturday morning. They will have six picks in the ensuing six rounds, starting at 64th overall. Article content Article content General manager Brad Treliving was suggesting this week there was an equal chance the Leafs move further down the order, not higher, if another team liked a player at 64th and perhaps offers them two picks in return. Article content It's not unheard of for Toronto to find a diamond in the rough at 64, with 1990s forward Frederik Modin and current defence prospect Topi Niemela, but any choices at that position are usually long-term projects. Article content 'I'm just interested in the best available talent and the guy who competes and works hard,' amateur scouting director Mark Leach told reporters on Thursday of what he would seek at that spot. Article content TAVARES SEEING RED Article content When we asked newly re-signed John Tavares where his game is at in his mid-30s, he threw his name in the ring for another shot with Team Canada at the 2026 Olympics in Milan-Cortina. Article content Tavares has played on various national sides in his career and it was a huge letdown for him not to be invited to the 4 Nations Face-Off last February. But it will have been 12 years since he won Olympic gold in 2014 at Sochi and this time he'd be nearing age 36. Article content Article content 'I really take a lot of pride in how I try to get better, approach the game and my craft,' he said. 'There's a tremendous amount of belief in who I am and what I can do. Article content 'I have always stated my desire to give it every opportunity to play for Team Canada on the biggest stage at the biggest events. You hope you can earn that, There's tremendous amount of belief I have to play at an elite level and continue to evolve. Article content The Canadiens announced this week that their Prospect Showdown returns to the Bell Centre, Sept. 13-14. The best young Habs and Leafs will be joined by the Ottawa Senators and Winnipeg Jets. Toronto plays the Sens at 1 p.m. on Sat. Sept. 13 and Montreal at 3 p.m. next day.
Globe and Mail
11 hours ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
An 84-game season among changes coming to NHL as part of new labour deal
An 84-game season is coming to the NHL as part of an extension of the collective bargaining agreement that has been tentatively agreed to by the league and the Players' Association. They announced a memorandum of understanding Friday in Los Angeles before the first round of the draft. It still needs to be ratified by the Board of Governors and the full NHLPA membership. Two games are being added to to the regular season, the maximum length of contracts players can sign is being shortened and a salary cap will be implemented in the playoffs for the first time, two people told The Associated Press on Thursday. The NHL and NHLPA began negotiations in earnest this spring after agreeing at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February to jointly hold a World Cup of Hockey in 2028. With revenue breaking records annually and the cap increasing exponentially in the coming years, Commissioner Gary Bettman and union executive director Marty Walsh voiced optimism about reaching an agreement quickly. There were no disagreements on a host of major issues like in previous bargaining talks. 'There's been tremendous growth, and what's ahead is spectacular on many fronts,' said Toronto's John Tavares, who's going into his 17th season. 'The predictability of things goes a long way, I think, for everyone in the sport. It's great to have that partnership and how collaborative it's been, which has been very different from 2012. It's great to see and happy that the growth of the game and the sport and the business side of it is all kind of in sync and in synergy and we're able to kind of continue to build off the many great things over the last few years.' Tavares takes hefty pay cut to return to Maple Leafs on four-year deal The extension through 2030 provides the sport extended labor peace since the last lockout in 2012-13, which shortened that season to 48 games. Here is what is changing: Going from 82 to 84 games beginning in 2026-27 – making the season 1,344 total games – is also expected to include a reduction in exhibition play, to four games apiece for the 32 teams. The additions would be played within divisions, evening out the schedule to ensure four showdowns each season between rivals like Toronto and Boston, Dallas and Colorado and Washington and Pittsburgh. Currently, there is a rotation that has some division opponents facing off only three times a season. That imbalance is coming to an end, and this is not the first time the NHL has had an 84-game season. The league experimented with that in 1992-93 and '93-94, when each team added a pair of neutral site games. Since 2013, players have been able to re-sign with their own team for up to eight years and sign with another for up to seven years. Under the new CBA, each would be reduced by a year, to seven for re-signing and six for changing teams. Top players, given the injury risks in the sport, have preferred the longest contracts possible. The same goes for general managers, eager to keep talent in the fold as long as possible. Nathan MacKinnon, Sebastian Aho, Leon Draisaitl, Juuse Saros, Travis Konecny, Mathew Barzal and, as recently as March, Mikko Rantanen are all among the top players who have signed lucrative eight-year deals. Leafs prepare for life without Marner as draft, free agency approach 'I guess that could be a rarity now,' said Trent Frederic, who on Friday signed an eight-year contract to remain with the Oilers. 'Eight years is better than seven. It's good to lock in before that changes.' But with the salary cap getting its biggest increases season by season over the next three years, the thinking had already begun to change. Auston Matthews re-signed for only four years with Toronto last summer, and Connor McDavid could also opt for a short-term contract extension with Edmonton. Currently, teams with players on long-term injured reserve can exceed the salary cap by roughly the amount of the players' salaries until the playoffs begin. Several times over the past decade, Stanley Cup contenders have used LTIR to activate players at the start of or early in the playoffs after they missed some or all of the regular season. Florida did so with Matthew Tkachuk before winning the second of back-to-back titles, Vegas has done it with Mark Stone on multiple occasions, Tampa Bay with Nikita Kucherov and Chicago with Patrick Kane. The rule has been criticized as an unfair loophole, a way to stockpile talent and then add even more for the postseason. After he and Carolina were eliminated by the Lightning in 2021, Dougie Hamilton quipped that the Hurricanes 'lost to a team that's $18 million over the cap.' Tampa Bay went back to back, and players wore T-shirts with that saying on it during their Cup celebration. That will no longer be possible, though it's not exactly clear how it will work. There are some other changes in store, too: The league will standardize draft pick rights until players turn 22, clear the way for full-time emergency traveling goaltenders and will stop teams to instituting a dress code for players, according to a person familiar with the CBA who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Friday because details of the agreement were not being released. Teams have been able to hold the rights to juniors players for two or three years, depending on their age, and for college players for four years; now those rights will be held until a player is 22. The change comes at a time when the NHL developmental pipeline is in flux after the NCAA decided that juniors players can be eligible to play U.S. college hockey. As the OHL hopes for another top NHL pick, Canada's junior hockey landscape faces change 'That would make a little more sense for development,' Washington Capitals assistant general manager Ross Mahoney said. 'An example would be you would take a player out of the CHL, maybe he plays as an 18-, 19-year-old and now you want to sign him, but maybe he's not quite ready for the (minors). So is it better to have him in (the American Hockey League) and have him healthy-scratched for a third of the games, or is it better for him to go play at North Dakota for two years and then sign?' Emergency backup goalies, the beloved 'EBUGs,' will soon be a thing of the past, years after the likes of David Ayres and Scott Foster went into games and won after a team's two roster netminders were injured. Each team will be able to keep an extra goaltender around to practice with and enter a game, rather than having a beer league replacement on standby. The fashion walk — most are familiar with videos and photos of well-dressed players walking into arenas before games — will also change as one of hockey's older traditions goes by the wayside. Some teams have done away with requiring suits for players, instead going to warmup jackets and sweatpants, but now players can choose their own looks.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
NHL signings tracker: Sam Bennett inks new contract with Panthers
The NHL free agency list continues to be whittled down before the July 1 opening date. Two more big names came off June 27 on the first day of the draft. Panthers center Sam Bennett, the playoff MVP with 15 goals during Florida's repeat run, agreed to terms on an eight-year contract. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports that it's worth $8 million a year. Advertisement That hometown discount will come in handy with the Panthers also needing to re-sign Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad and others. 'Sam is a special player who has mastered a unique blend of skill and physicality in his game, becoming one of the most impactful postseason performers of his generation,' said Panthers general manager Bill Zito. 'He played an integral role in our two Stanley Cup championships, earning the franchise's first Conn Smythe Trophy and is a dedicated contributor to our South Florida community off the ice. We are thrilled that he will continue his career with the Panthers." Maple Leafs' John Tavares re-signs He'll get four years at a $4.38 million average, a hometown discount for the 34-year-old. He scored 38 goals and 74 points in 75 games this past season. Oilers' Trent Frederic re-signs The rugged forward was acquired at the trade deadline. He'll average $3.85 million in the eight-year deal. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NHL free agents: Latest signings; Sam Bennett returns to Panthers
New York Times
13 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
What John Tavares' hometown discount means for the Maple Leafs — now and later
It was sometimes said that John Tavares took a hometown discount when he signed a seven-year, $77 million contract with the Maple Leafs seven years ago, all because one other team, the San Jose Sharks, was prepared to pay him more. Tavares' $11 million cap hit still ranked right near the top of the league for the entirety of the deal. Advertisement This — the four-year, $18 million deal that Tavares signed with the Leafs on Friday — is an actual hometown discount and a clear win for a front office that needed one to get the ball rolling on the offseason. The contract, which lasts until 2029, comes with a $4.38 million cap hit. That's slightly less than the $4.5 million ticket that Matt Duchene nabbed on the four-year deal he recently signed with the Stars in a much friendlier Dallas tax environment. It's much less than the $7.5 million cap hit that Brock Nelson, he of 12 fewer goals and 18 fewer points than Tavares last season, got on a three-year commitment from Colorado. It's much less than Tavares surely could have fetched on the open market, something Tavares acknowledged himself after the deal was announced when he noted that he 'obviously left some money out there' but wanted to 'find a way to make a deal that was very good for both sides.' Tavares' willingness to defer a $2 million signing bonus until 2033 helped the Leafs get the number they wanted — about $120,000 per season in cap space, from $4.5 to $4.38 million. 'His commitment was illustrated by what he did here,' GM Brad Treliving said. As it stands right now, Tavares now owns the 227th-ranked cap hit in the league next season and sixth highest among Leafs — trailing Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev. The cap-hit percentage next season is 4.58 percent, only slightly more than what Max Domi's ticket (4.26 percent) took up last season. That the Leafs didn't have to stretch the deal out six or seven years is a win and removes some long-term risk. There were reasons for the Leafs to move on from Tavares, beginning with the plain old need to change after so much playoff disappointment. If they were going to bring him back, however, this was precisely the kind of deal they needed to get. After years of watching rivals nab their key players for less, for various reasons, the Leafs finally got one of their own. Advertisement They pushed Tavares right up until the brink of free agency, essentially testing his desire to finish his career and continue chasing a Stanley Cup as a Leaf. 'Why we wanted to keep John? Because he's a really good player,' Treliving said. 'I understand John's at the age that he is and we all expect aging curves to kick in at some point. John's been able to defy it and it's a credit to the way he looks after himself, the commitment he has to his craft, his body. His preparation is second to none.' Though it's highly unlikely that Tavares scores 38 goals again at any point in the contract, the Leafs should be able to count on anywhere from 20-30 next season, especially if Tavares and pending RFA Matthew Knies continue to chow down together down low in tandem on the power play. Tavares' goal scoring is crucial for a team that's about to lose Mitch Marner in free agency. He scored 18 of those 38 goals last season from the high-danger zone and another 10 — on remarkable (and undoubtedly unsustainable) 38.5 percent shooting — from the high slot. Tavares worked to earn that good fortune, spending day after day with player development coach and former NHLer Patrick O'Sullivan after practice to fine-tune not just his shot but his puck-work and skating. He would often return to the dressing room a full hour after most of his teammates. If there's reason to think that Tavares won't fall off sharply in the near term, it's that. Tavares has been determined, admittedly so, to turn over every possible stone to ensure that he remains relevant and impactful for as long as possible. 'I don't necessarily think just because you get to 33, 34, 35 years old that all of a sudden your career's over,' Treliving said, describing Tavares as the most 'committed athlete' he's been around. 'I look at John maintaining his level,' the Leafs GM went on, before adding, 'We'll see. Father Time is undefeated. But I know we're gonna have a real good player here and we expect to have a really good player for the foreseeable future.' Advertisement At some point, there will be a more noticeable drop-off, and it's likely going to be tied to a continued decline in foot speed. Tavares, to his credit, has worked diligently on maintaining and even improving that aspect of his game throughout his time with the Leafs, but it's still been evident, especially in the playoffs, that the pace can get a little too quick for him. Not playing centre full-time would help with that. It's hard to see a scenario though where Tavares isn't playing the middle again in the short term. Whether it's on the second or third line will be determined by the calibre of centre that Treliving is able to acquire in the coming weeks, if he's able to acquire one at all. The free-agent market is notoriously thin on options of any kind this summer, and the Leafs aren't especially well-positioned to strike a trade. That's partly why bringing Tavares back felt so essential to the Leafs. Without him, they would be chasing not one centre but two. Any kind of upgrade on Domi would help Tavares, especially in the postseason. Add even a one-dimensional defensive-minded centre who can be buried in defensive-zone faceoffs and combat top competition and head coach Craig Berube could ease both the quantity and quality of Tavares' minutes. Regardless of what they do, the Leafs shouldn't have Tavares logging 18 minutes again next season, not when the team needs him as fresh as possible in the spring. The Leafs' second-round series with Florida turned when the Panthers sent their Selke Trophy combo of Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart to shut down Tavares, William Nylander and Max Pacioretty. Even on home ice though, where Berube could dictate matchups, Tavares was unable to get much going. He was held without a point in the last four games of the series (three of them losses) and six of seven overall. Not unlike the Matthews-Marner duo, the Tavares-Nylander combo has never really taken off when it matters. Advertisement Tavares has posted only six goals and 10 points in his last four playoff series, totaling 25 games. That was costly to a Leafs team devoting $11 million in cap space to him. Ideally, the Leafs could play Tavares on the left wing of a second line as soon as next season. If not that, the centre of a third line that could consistently bully lighter opponents. For the moment, with free agency around the corner, Tavares slots back into the middle of that second line, likely alongside Nylander. The clock is ticking now more than ever for the Leafs to improve at centre. It will get to a point soon enough, if it hasn't already, when a full-time move to the wing becomes mandatory for Tavares. The positive for the Leafs is Tavares, at this cap number, figures to deliver value wherever he's playing, even if he's delivering 20-ish goals and 50-ish points next season or 15-20 goals and 40-ish points the one after that. And if Tavares were to fall off dramatically, the Leafs have some outs. Tavares holds no-move control only for the first two years of the deal, after which only a five-team no-trade clause. There is a measure of complacency that comes with bringing Tavares back. Treliving spoke of the need for a change in DNA at the end of last season, and Tavares has been an integral part of that with the Leafs for his seven seasons, including five as captain. Even as his role shrinks, and it will shrink, he will remain a prominent figure and voice on the team. The challenge of replacing him, coupled with the fact that he wanted to stay and ultimately took less to do so, made a reunion more than palatable. If the Leafs end up winning the Cup that Tavares is so desperately chasing, he will take on hero status in the market for his financial sacrifice in the name of team success. Tavares said he only wanted to stay at home. In taking less, he proved it.
