Tavares, a Toronto-area native who spends his first nine seasons with the New York Islanders after being selected No. 1 in the 2009 NHL Draft and is their captain from 2013-18, spends the week before the start of free agency meeting with six teams, including the Maple Leafs and Islanders. In the end, the opportunity to play for the Maple Leafs, the team he grew up cheering for, proves to be too attractive to pass up.
He leaves the Islanders with 621 points (272 goals, 349 assists) in 669 NHL games during nine seasons; that's fifth in Islanders history but first among players who weren't part of their four consecutive Stanley Cup-winning teams from 1980-83. Tavares has NHL career highs in goals (47) and points (88) in his first season with the Maple Leafs, though Toronto again fails to get past the first round of the playoffs.
Later in the day, Ryan O'Reilly is
traded to the St. Louis Blues by the Buffalo Sabres
for three players and two draft picks. The veteran center ends his first season with St. Louis by helping the Blues
win the Stanley Cup
for the first time since entering the NHL in 1967 and being voted winner of the
Conn Smythe Trophy
as playoff MVP.
MORE MOMENTS
1941:
Rod Gilbert
, the New York Rangers' all-time leading scorer, is born in Montreal. In his 18 NHL seasons, all with New York, Gilbert sets team records for goals (406) and points (1,021) despite numerous back injuries, one of which causes him to have a spinal fusion. Gilbert is the right wing on the "GAG Line" of the early 1970s, along with left wing
Vic Hadfield
and center
Jean Ratelle
, a boyhood friend and teammate. All three eventually have their
numbers retired by the Rangers
.