If and when the New York Islanders' John Tavares lands a new contract, the veteran forward could pull in as much as $12 million per season, Sporting News' Brandon Schlager suggested this week.

Noting that the Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid "left money on the table" despite inking a historic eight-year, $100 million extension this summer, Schlager proposes that a transformed market could force the Islanders -- and/or anyone else after Tavares as a potential 2018 free agent -- to up their offers.

What does McDavid's monster contract mean for a player of Tavares' ilk who hits the open market in his prime? The Islanders' offer has been rumored to exceed $10 million per year, but Tavares could conceivably approach $12 million in a bidding war.

Tavares, 26, could certainly warrant such a payday from New York if the Islanders, as they say, are committed to keeping him around. But a contract of that size could also hamper the Isles from a financial standpoint, even with an increased salary cap, which is why Tavares would stand to benefit even more from hitting the open market. That's where, presumably, he'd field ludicrous offers from clubs like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens -- teams with playoff potential to sell -- and even more ludicrous offers from teams with cap space to burn.