![]() "John has achieved great individual success on the ice, as well as devoting a tremendous amount of his time and energy to the community. "The New York Islanders would like to thank John Tavares for everything he has done for the franchise throughout the past nine seasons," Lamoriello said in a statement. Those moves weren't enough to convince Tavares to stay in New York, where he played all of last season with his long-term future uncertain and repeatedly said it was his intention to return. Barry Trotz, who coached the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup last season, was hired June 21. Lamoriello took over as general manager of the Islanders on June 5 after he fired GM Garth Snow and coach Doug Weight and said then that the changes had nothing to do with Tavares. Lou Lamoriello was hired by the Islanders as president of hockey operations on May 22 after three seasons as general manager of the Maple Leafs. "I'm just going to try to put my best foot forward and do the best I can and obviously, hopefully we can do some special things." "I knew it was maybe a little bit of the uncomfortable thing to do, but I didn't want that to hold me back from taking a chance at a great opportunity," Tavares said. He took his decision all the way past the midnight deadline Saturday to become a free agent. Tavares could have re-signed with the Islanders any time after last July 1. Tweet from Not everyday you can live a childhood dream /YUTKdfMALl My gut was just tearing apart, my heart was tearing apart trying to figure out what I wanted to do." "But as we got back from L.A., I just felt like my heart was in two places: where I'm from, and a place where I've been for a long time that helped become the man that I am today. I wanted to be very thorough, I wanted to be very honest and very open to everything. "The commitment that it meant for those teams to come all the way out to Los Angeles to present to me, I didn't want to include anyone in there to waste anybody's time. ![]() "I think all the teams that I met with were awesome and obviously I took it very seriously," Tavares said. The maximum contract he could have received from any team other than the Islanders was seven years it is believed New York offered him the maximum eight years. Video: Tavares introduced as a member of the Maple Leafs And our guys were very, very good letting him know how we operate and what he could expect here." that's why players want to come to different places, because the players that they're going to play with and be with every day on the team. "I think the most important part was presenting the players that John was going to play with, and in the end. "All we did was present the people that we have here, the coaching staff, the leadership from Brendan on down, and the rest of our staff here. "I think we were very hopeful, we thought we made a very good case," Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas said. The Maple Leafs were one of six teams Tavares spoke with in Los Angeles last week, including the Islanders, Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, San Jose Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning. I'm very fortunate to be here and call myself a Maple Leaf." It was an opportunity I didn't want to turn down. "As a kid, cheering for the Leafs growing up, you start to get those feelings again, once I went through the interview process and got that and what it was like as a kid watching the Leafs and following my favorite players. It's obviously one of the premier organizations, not just in hockey, but in sports. It was hard to turn down this opportunity. ![]() Certainly being from here, and I think with where this team's at and how good and young their core players are. I thought the timing just couldn't be beat. "It really took the right opportunity and the right fit. You're in one place for so long, you get so embedded, your roots are so deep there and you care so much about the people, and the people that have cared about you. "It was quite the process," Tavares said at Scotiabank Arena.
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