John Tavares won’t be signing with the Boston Bruins. Instead, he’s agreed to a seven-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The new deal for the free-agent center will pay him $11 million per season. He’d previously met with the Bruins, San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Dallas Stars, in addition to the Leafs.
Tavares posted a farewell message to his former team, the New York Islanders, via Twitter on Sunday. He later announced he’s signing with the Maple Leafs.
— John Tavares (@91Tavares) July 1, 2018
I’m thrilled to be starting a new chapter of my career and life in Toronto with the @MapleLeafs. I feel very fortunate to come join a team with a great young core and play where I grew up learning and loving the game. I can’t wait to get started!
— John Tavares (@91Tavares) July 1, 2018
Not everyday you can live a childhood dream pic.twitter.com/YUTKdfMALl
— John Tavares (@91Tavares) July 1, 2018
Tavares finishes his Islanders career with 621 points in 669 games. He joins a Maple Leafs team that already had Auston Matthews and Nazem Kadri at center, in addition to young stars Mitchell Marner and William Nylander at the wing positions.
The Bruins have made some minor moves to fill out the bottom of the roster to start free agency. They signed goalie Jaroslav Halak to a two-year deal, and also signed forwards Chris Wagner and Joakim Nordstrom.
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