Would John Tavares going to Pittsburgh actually be a bad thing for the NHL?

Modified May 14, 2018 02:45 GMT

John Tavares hasn't played an NHL game for over a month now and he has been rumored to go to different teams this offseason, one of the teams being the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tavares is an unrestricted free agent and he is free to sign with anyone starting July 1.

Tavares has played with the New York Islanders since the 2009-2010 season. He was the number one overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. In his career so far, he has 272 goals and 349 assists and his plus/minus is -42. Tavares has been the number one centerman for the Islanders over the past few years and he has also been their team captain.

He has won only one playoff series in his entire career and has only made the playoffs three times. Because of how many times he has made it to the playoffs, it is understandable why the Pittsburgh Penguins are mentioned as one of the possible teams he could sign with.

Would it actually be a bad thing if he signed there? Well, Tavares is still in the prime of his career at just 27 years old. He is capable of being a number one center, but he could also play on the wing or be a second or third line centerman.

Yeah, a third line centerman. Why? Because Sidney Crosby is the first line centerman and Evgeni Malkin is the second line centerman. Can you imagine a possible third line of Daniel Sprong-John Tavares-Phil Kessel? That would be dangerous and maybe unfair.

The Penguins would have to make cap space for him. Carl Hagelin is owed $4 million, Matt Hunwick is owed $2.25 million, Derrick Brassard is owed $5 million, and Kris Letang is owed $7.25 million. Those could be some of the players that would possibly be moved in order to sign Tavares. He would then be able to get between $7 million and $8 million a season although he probably wants more a year.

In reality, having Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, and John Tavares on the same team would be a super team. They would have four of the top-20 players in the entire NHL. This would be the best team the NHL has seen in a long time.

It would be a given for Pittsburgh to make it to the finals, but here's the one thing the NHL has that the NBA doesn't: competitive nature. The Eastern Conference is very tough with teams like the Washington Capitals, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins.

It is very rare for superstars in hockey to join other superstars in free agency, but this would be the first time I can recall something like this happening. I wouldn't count my money on this happening because he will either stay with the New York Islanders, go to Toronto, St. Louis, Montreal, Vegas, Nashville, New Jersey, or the New York Rangers.

If Tavares does go to Pittsburgh, they could win multiple Stanley Cup titles, but it won't be as easy as people think it could be.