Tavares Not Having a Good Season

 

Justin Dahan (HV)

 

Nobody would say that John Tavares is not a good player. Last year he had 72 goals and 134 points in 67 games, in only his second year. After a poor display in the Russia Canada ADT Super Series his year has only gotten worse.

Tavares, born in 1988, is not even at a goal per game so far this season. He has 23 goals and 35 assists for 58 points in 26 games. By no means are these bad stats but for Tavares they seem to be less than what they should be considering what he accomplished last year.

This is the worst time for Tavares to slow down. This year he and his agent have appealed to the NHL to try and allow Tavares to be drafted next year, they are claiming he is ready for the NHL now.

Tavares and his agent have even claimed to entertain the idea of playing next season in Europe, if not the NHL, so he could play at a higher level as soon as possible.

After watching Tavares it’s obvious that he is not ready for the NHL. His skating, which has been one of the few question marks his whole career, is not NHL caliber, in fact it’s hardly OHL caliber.

Tavares relies heavily on good positioning, his office is the side of the net where he is able to convert passes to goals easily or feed his teammates for goals. His game is particularly effective on the power play.

Another one of Tavares great assets is his stick handling. He can handle the puck better than some NHL players. While he’s not blessed with the hardest shot, his shot is accurate and tricks goalies effectively. He also is able to find his teammates all over the ice and put the puck directly on their stick.

After analyzing Tavares it’s apparent that he is not ready for the NHL. While he should have a great NHL career, he still needs to work on his strength and skating. A European league may be the best option for Tavares next year. While not the same as the NHL, European leagues rely on skating and he would have to improve to adapt there.