Details of John Tavares next contract with Maple Leafs leak to the public

John Tavares is currently the 3rd highest-paid player on the Toronto Maple Leafs with an 11 million dollar cap hit.

However, the 34-year-old is in the final year of his deal and it would only seem natural that he takes a pay cut to stay in Toronto.

After all, next year he will be 35 and Leafs management cannot expect him to be the same player he was at 30.

Now, we are starting to hear rumblings of what his next deal may look like.

Term remains in question, but according to the latest report from the Toronto Star, the former Leafs captain is expected to sign for around 8 million dollars a season.

This might still sound like too much money for a player in his mid-30's, but so far Tavares has proven to still be worth that kind of money.

After a slight downturn last season, Tavares is back at a point-per-game pace, with 21 goals and 45 points through 47 contests so far this year.

Perhaps his performance this year has lead to him increasing his expectations as previous reports had Tavares signing for less money.

NHL insider Pierre LeBrun reported earlier this year that Tavares was expected to sign a similar deal to Anze Kopitar or Claude Giroux, both of whom are currently signed for less than 8 million dollars.

Then again, there does seem to be a bit of a tax players ask for to play in Toronto, so perhaps 8 million a season could be seen as comparable to Giroux's 6.5 in Ottawa.

Either way, we should hear more about this in the relatively near future as the Leafs are unlikely to want to keep Tavares in limbo going into the playoffs.

As such, be sure to be on the lookout for extension news coming from the Leafs in the next couple of months.