Pursuing John Tavares in free agency is most likely one of the climaxes of the Montreal Canadiens offseason strategy. It’s not every day when a player of his calibre hits the open market. The last time it happened was with Steven Stamkos, and he eventually decided to extend with his current team. However, you can’t fault him for doing that seeing where the Tampa Bay Lightning were in their build and where they currently are now.
The New York Islanders have some solid forward pieces, especially Mathew Barzal, but that may not be enough to keep Tavares around.