When John Tavares‘ contract ran out with the New York Islanders http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline … ith-jersey , he took the opportunity to talk with other teams.”I felt like I owed it to myself to see what else was out there,” Tavares said.Tavares’ exploration led him to rediscover his childhood affinity for the Maple Leafs, and his confidence in Toronto’s future led him to sign a monster $77 million, seven-year contract. The Islanders were left with nothing, a mistake other NHL franchises seem determined not to make.Don’t wait. Sometimes not even a day.On Sunday, when Tavares’ departure left a void on Long Island, the Sharks signed Logan Couture, Coyotes signed Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Kings signed Drew Doughty and Lightning signed Ryan McDonagh to long-term deals. None of them would have been free agents until July 1, 2019, and this was the first possible chance to ink extensions that begin more than a year from now.It’s worth every penny to San Jose, Arizona, Los Angeles and Tampa Bay to get those contracts done now rather than risk a key player even exploring unrestricted free agency like Tavares did.”If you wait too long and you get into the situation where they have the potential to walk or explore the UFA market, that can be challenging times,” Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said.The Ottawa Senators are trapped in such challenging times. They made a contract offer to Norris Trophy-winning captain and 2019 free agent Erik Karlsson, but it’s not a great sign that the real negotiating is only just beginning.”We’re not going there,” GM Pierre Dorion said. ”We don’t really want to talk about roster players, contract negotiations, trades, all these things, but I think we owe it to our fans and we made a promise at the town hall that we would make a contract offer to Erik Karlsson and we’ve done so.”Tick, tick, tick. Even a year away, the pressure is on the Senators to sign Karlsson long term or trade him before the deadline so they don’t end up like the Islanders.The Coyotes made sure they wouldn’t be in that spot by locking up Ekman-Larsson to a $66 million Authentic Matt Ioannidis Jersey , eight-year deal that the soon-to-be 27-year-old defenseman called ”a no-brainer.” Arizona GM John Chayka calls it ”a huge moment for our entire organization” because there’s now no fear of losing Ekman-Larsson for nothing.”A superstar-caliber player has the option to basically go to any of the 31 teams and felt the loyalty, felt the belief in what we were doing enough to sign on long term,” Chayka said, adding that the Coyotes had to convince Ekman-Larsson with actions that they were moving in the right direction.The Kings convinced Doughty of that so much, he knew all season he was going to re-sign. He’s building a new house in the LA area, is getting married this summer and is ready to start a family in a place he wants to stay for essentially the balance of his career.”I never wanted to leave there, to be honest,” Doughty said. ”It will be nice not to answer the question, `Hey are you coming to Toronto? You’re coming to the Leafs, right?’ No, I’m not coming to the Leafs, everyone.”Doughty signing for $88 million over eight years sets the bar for Karlsson, who could face similar questions if he goes into the season without a future contract like Tavares did. Over the past week, Tavares began wondering if he would play for his hometown Maple Leafs, a bond too deep for the Islanders to overcome.Couture grew up not far from Toronto, but he never entertained that possibility because he signed a $64 million, eight-year deal with the Sharks. Couture respected Tavares’ choice and made his own without much difficulty.”We have some very good players: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Brent Burns, Martin Jones, Evander Kane – very, very good players – Joe Pavelski,” Couture said, rattling off core players all signed long term. ”I want to win. That’s my goal as a hockey player. I believe that San Jose has and will continue to have a very, very good chance at winning in the future. That’s why my decision was so easy.”It was just as easy for McDonagh Matt Ioannidis Jersey Elite , who signed a $47.25 million, seven-year deal with the Lightning, who acquired him at the trade deadline. McDonagh was comfortable with Tampa Bay, which went through an almost-Tavares situation two years ago with captain Steven Stamkos before signing him on the eve of free agency.Days after signing Stamkos in 2016, the Lightning extended top defenseman Victor Hedman at the first possibly moment like they did with McDonagh. GM Steve Yzerman knows how to work ahead, which is often essential in today’s NHL with important players.”(If you wait), you don’t really know how it’s going to go,” Yzerman said. ”We go into next year for both parties, we don’t know, and I think it’s worthwhile exploring the opportunity now.”— With just a few games left before the halfway point of the season, the Philadelphia Flyers and the Florida Panthers get set to meet on Saturday night – and neither team is in playoff position.The Panthers, who will host the Flyers, are 15-15-6 with 36 points following a 5-3 home loss on Friday night to a team they are chasing in the Eastern Conference, the Montreal Canadiens.“We didn’t make it that tough on (Montreal),” said Panthers forward Mike Hoffman, who had two assists. “We gave them too many easy goals. Hopefully we can clean it up.”Article continues below ...Panthers coach Bob Boughner was furious at his team after the loss, especially because Florida fell behind 2-0 with less than three minutes played.“Some guys weren’t ready to play when the puck dropped,” Boughner said, not naming names. “It’s great that we came back, 2-2, but we didn’t play a good game. Everybody knows that.“Our fourth goal was a backbreaker. We had two (defensemen) caught behind the net – just unaware, dumb hockey.”Boughner then returned to the theme of those first three, brutal minutes.“I’d like to say it was a bad team start, but it was a couple of individuals (who started poorly) http://www.washingtonredskinsteamonline … dis-jersey ,” he said. “That screwed the rest of us.“We didn’t even get a chance to get our third and fourth lines on the ice before it was 2-0. I’d love to say our team wasn’t ready. But a couple of guys weren’t ready, and it cost us.”Meanwhile, the Flyers are 15-16-5, with 35 points, following a 6-5 overtime loss to the host Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.Philadelphia erased a four-goal deficit against the team with the best record in the NHL, earning a hard-fought point.“This proves that our team doesn’t quit,” Philadelphia’s Ivan Provorov said. “We play to the end.”Added Philadelphia’s Robert Hagg: “As soon as we got the first goal, we said, ‘OK, we can actually do this again.'”The only negative for the Flyers was the fact that 20-year-old center Nolan Patrick left the game with an upper-body injury.Patrick, who has five goals and six assists in this his second NHL season, is questionable for the Panthers game.Florida’s biggest injury issue revolves around second-line center Vincent Trocheck, who was an All-Star in 2017 and combined to score 54 goals the past two years.Trocheck hasn’t played since Nov. 19 due to a fractured right ankle, but he could return to game action in early February, Boughner said. Trocheck could start skating in a week.The Panthers on Saturday are expected to star backup goalie James Reimer, resting Roberto Luongo, who took the loss on Friday.One bright spot for the Panthers on Friday — and perhaps carrying on into Saturday – was the play of a pair of 21-year-olds, Henrik Borgstrom and Denis Malgin, who both scored first-period goals.That secondary scoring is important because the Panthers normally rely on four forwards:Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov, who share the team lead with 17 goals each; JonathanHuberdeau, who tops Florida in assists (33) and points (42); and captain Aleksander Barkov,who is second with 37 points.Claude Giroux has 13 goals and leads the Flyers in points (44) and assists (31). Sean Couturier leads the team with 14 goals and is third with 28 points. Jakob Voracek has nine goals and is second on the team with 29 points.