John Tavares' Latest Stretch of Games Revealing Something Very Exciting for Maple Leafs

As it turns out, John Tavares' omission from Team Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off squad in February might have turned out to be the best thing for his career.

After a win against the Los Angeles Kings, the Toronto Maple Leafs now sit atop the Atlantic Division with 92 points in 73 games.

One player making a huge impact on the team, especially down this latest 6-game stretch, is the veteran Tavares.

Tavares has already accumulated 69 points in 65 games this season, but he has been even more remarkable lately. As per Nick DeSouza on X:

This career resurgence for Tavares does not get enough attention around the league. We're talking about a 34-year-old who is quite possibly going to score 40 goals this year and finish well-above a point per game. If he continues this in the playoffs, it will only add to the overall excitement and the idea that perhaps Tavares can continue to play at a high level through his mid-to-late 30's.

Even his teammates have taken notice of how well the former captain has been playing. Auston Matthews had this to say about Tavares' performance since the 4 Nations Face-Off break, as per Luke Fox on X:

Since the 4 Nations break, Tavares has been on fire. He currently leads all upcoming free agents in goals with 35.

Last week, he also reached a major milestone, recording his 1100th NHL point in what has been an undeniably underrated NHL career.

With the playoffs fast approaching, the Maple Leafs will need Tavares to continue his strong performance if they hope to make a deep playoff run under Craig Berube in his first postseason as head coach of the team. Berube helped Ryan O'Reilly hoist a Stanley Cup. Maybe he can do the same for Tavares.