N.Y. Islanders: Prime Time For John Tavares

From the desk of:  FIVE FOR FLATBUSH

4-0-1 At Home To Start Season

New York Islanders: Each John Tavares Goal Nudges New Ownership Another Two Minutes Closer To Midnight.

Don't take your eyes off John Tavares.

I say that for a few reasons.

As a 27-year old, he's only now entering his athletic prime.  I admit it's a little early for this, but something special may be unfolding before our eyes.

The first overall pick of the 2009 entry draft, Tavares is already well on his way towards a career season.  The only question is, how far can he take this?

His slash presently reads 11 goals, 4 assists, 15 points, in just 12 games.

Entering this season, Tavares has topped 30 goals three times in eight campaigns.  To date, his 38 goals in 2014-15 are his career best.  He finished just one point shy of equaling his total games played in each of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.  His points then exceeded games played by seven in 2014-15, and by four the following season.

Tavares scored his first two goals of this season against the Buffalo Sabres in the Islanders second game of the season, but then went pointless in his next five games.  He finally netted his third goal of the season on Oct. 21, against San Jose.  Then unleashed fury with a pair of hat tricks against Arizona and Nashville, followed by another pair of goals against the expansion Vegas Golden Knights Monday night at Barclays Center, giving him nine goals in his last five games.

It just so happens John Tavares is also in his contract year.

Therefore, the Islanders are facing two choices: Pay him his worth and lock him up long term.  Or, try and maximize a trade by the deadline.

With regards to the latter, trading John Tavares would be a complete disaster.  So would letting him walk away as a free agent, for that matter.  The Islanders can not allow, nor afford, letting either scenario playing out.  Not after what the fans have been made to endure over the last two decades.

John Tavares is the franchise.  There's no way of overstating that fact.  He has been the Captain since 2013, and is clearly among the NHL's elite centers.  Between 1992 and 2001, the Islanders retired six jerseys belonging to members of the dynasty teams of the early 1980s.  None have gone up since.  There are some arguments to be made for other players.  Retiring Tavares' number, however, is becoming more of a certainty with each passing year.

If you're John Tavares, of course you want to get paid fair market value.  And even if the Islanders meet his price, will new ownership continue elevating the talent around him?  Make no mistake, parting ways with Kyle Okposo did not sit well with Tavares.  These may be new owners, but things like that remain in players' minds.  This is, after all, a business.

That being said, I'm sure missing the playoffs last season certainly didn't help the situation.  This is his ninth season with the organization, and the Islanders have only qualified for the post-season just three times since his arrival, with only one series victory to show.

One must also consider how Barclays Center fails as a viable NHL arena, and the continuing uncertainty regarding a potential arena next to Belmont Park.  Ownership has already stated the Islanders will be playing in Brooklyn through next season regardless.

All things considered, one has to wonder whether John Tavares will even want to continue playing with the Islanders.

It will be interesting, to say the least, watching Scott Malkin and Jonathan Ledecky negotiate a new home for the Islanders in Belmont (because I do not believe there is a Plan-B in place), and a new deal for one of the league's premier players at the same time.

One has absolutely everything to do with the other.  Tavares sells tickets.  Without him, the dominoes begin to fall.  Fans become disinterested.  That translates into empty seats in a potential new arena.  And before you know it, another decade of bad hockey has gone by.

Unfortunately, the Islanders do not have the luxury of wooing a new market starved for NHL hockey.  This is the same market, and the same increasingly disaffected fans who for long have been numbed by organizational inefficiencies and inadequacies.

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The Islanders have won five of their last six games, and with their 6-3 victory over Vegas, improved to 4-0-1 at home.  They end the month of October 7-4-1, and just one point behind the first place New Jersey Devils in the Metropolitan Division standings.

Next on the docket: Thursday night against the Capitals in Washington.