John Tavares flew home to Toronto on Thursday, which meant there was no second face-to-face meeting with the Islanders in Los Angeles. There’s nothing to read into that — it appears only that Tavares is ready to wrap this process up by either signing with the Islanders before Saturday at midnight or heading into the great unknown on Sunday at noon.



In fact, the Islanders will almost certainly know by Friday whether Tavares is staying for eight years and somewhere between $92-100 million. That sort of contract takes time to finalize, so with the midnight deadline on Saturday looming — after that, Tavares is considered an unrestricted free agent and cannot get the eighth year from the Isles anymore — Tavares and his camp will let Lou Lamoriello know on Friday to either start the contract process or say goodbye after nine seasons.



Tavares reportedly was impressed by the thorough pitches from all six teams: The Leafs, Islanders, Sharks, Bruins,...