In a recent episode of the Kyper and Bourne podcast featuring Nick Kypreos, Justin Bourne, and Sam McKee, a wild theory emerged regarding the Toronto Maple Leafs’ decision to ask John Tavares to relinquish his captaincy. Kypreos suggested that the organization might have hoped Tavares would be so insulted by the request that he would request a trade. The result would have been permission to seek a deal to send out a player who has a full no-move and the Leafs could have dumped his $11 million bloated contract.
While this theory may sound far-fetched, it does raise questions about the lengths a team might go to in pursuit of a cap-friendly roster and what it means for Tavares’ future in Toronto.
Is Kypreos Trying to Stir Up Drama Surrounding Maple Leafs and Tavares?
Kypreos didn’t come right out and say the Maple Leafs did this in an attempt to get Tavares to opt out. But, he certainly teased it and in Toronto, where almost every little story blows up into a dramatic over-exaggeration, semantics doesn’t matter. As a veteran sports commentator, Kypreos knows that tossing out this theory will stir up emotions among the fan base.
Related: 3 Maple Leafs Who Could Soon Be Traded
The mere suggestion that other NHL players have been asking why Tavares would have been open to giving up the ‘C’ so easily while they would have demanded out in the face of such an insulting request hints at one of two things: Tavares wants to stay so badly he’s willing to be insulted, or he saw right through what the Leafs were trying to do and didn’t bite.
Kypreos suggested that Tavares took the high road but acknowledged that not all players would react similarly. This statement opens the door to a bizarre notion: Did the Leafs genuinely consider that Tavares would be provoked enough to ask for a trade?
Were the Maple Leafs Trying to Get Cap Relief?
“If it could help alleviate the cap,” Kypreos remarked, “the Leafs were prepared to hear that from him.” This leads to an intriguing question: Would the Maple Leafs actually stoop that low?
The idea that a professional sports organization would intentionally attempt to agitate one of its star players is not only insulting to the club but also counterproductive. Tavares is not just any player. Even though he’s going to have to take a pay cut to stay beyond this season, he is a leader on and off the ice and has been a cornerstone of the franchise for years. To believe that the Leafs would engage in a strategy to “push him out” feels more like a conspiracy theory than a plausible scenario.
Bourne said that if the Maple Leafs actually did this, Tavares likely read between the lines and gave up the captaincy because he didn’t want to give them any reason to consider trading him. Bourne noted, “He probably played that movie out in his mind and probably saw how quickly it would have gone from ‘You don’t think I can leave, then send me outta here!’. and the next day he would have been in Columbus or something.”
Both hosts seemed to believe this might have been a thing that actually happened.
What Really Likely Happened Between Tavares and the Maple Leafs
As “fun” (not really) as this theory might be, it’s probably extremely far from the truth about what went on behind the scenes. The Maple Leafs likely wanted to give Auston Matthews the captaincy and Tavares knows that this is the natural progression of things. Whether it was this season or next, Matthews is the new face of the team and voice for the organization. Willingly handing off the letter sets a better tone for the season and it’s the kind of person Tavares is — a leader.
We may never learn what was said or what the team’s true intentions were. With that in mind, the team and Tavares likely had a conversation and Tavares had no issue with it. While being accommodating likely helps his odds of getting re-signed, the reality is, that the Leafs can choose to sign or not sign Tavares, letter or not. That fact likely didn’t play into their conversation at all.