It almost seems fitting that a Toronto-area boy is now reaching major milestones while donning the Toronto Maple Leafs jersey, but that was the case with former Maple Leafs’ captain John Tavares who doubled down on personal milestones in Friday night’s win in Buffalo.
600 NHL career apples 🍎
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) December 21, 2024
Congratulations to John Tavares on a milestone assist! pic.twitter.com/LWNDuKwx4m
Tavares, who’s having a particularly strong offensive season, tallied two assists in a 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night. It was the second assist that helped him reach the 600-point milestone in his career, a helper that came on Nylander’s empty netter in the third period.
The assist not only gave Tavares 600 in his career, but it also bumped him into 70th on the NHL’s all-time scoring list — passing Henrik Sedin who had 1,070 points during his career. Tavares’ 1,071 is now good enough for 70th all-time and he’s now chasing down Claude Giroux who has 1,086 in his career for 69th all-time.
As for the 600-assist milestone, Tavares becomes just the 102nd player in NHL history to reach that mark. The 34-year-old, who was drafted in 2009, is the first player from that draft to hit the milestone and currently sits atop the all-time points list from that season’s draft.
Tavares, who gave up the captaincy to Auston Matthews this offseason, is having a big start to the season offensively with 15 goals and 31 points in 32 games played. Whether a weight has been lifted or it’s just Tavares finding his game again this season, it’s a good sign for Maple Leafs fans who would like to see Tavares continue his career in Toronto.
For others, who might think he’s far past his prime, consider this. Tavares is 39th in the NHL in scoring this season and tied in 18th in goals. All of that in a contract year and things don’t seem to be slowing down for the former captain.
