When John Tavares walked away from the New York Islanders on July 1, 2018, the franchise and its fans were left stunned. The captain chose to sign a seven-year, $77 million deal with his boyhood team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. For many in Uniondale and Brooklyn, it was nothing short of betrayal.
But inside the Islanders’ locker room, the reaction wasn’t quite as bitter. Cal Clutterbuck, who shared the ice with Tavares for years and attended his wedding, said he understood the decision.
Cal Clutterbuck Reflects on John Tavares Leaving
“I never held a grudge,” Clutterbuck said on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast.
“Our attitude already was us against the world. Like we’re the New York Islanders, the whole league gives us no respect regardless of how good or bad we are.”
-Cal Clutterbuck goes into great detail on Tavares leaving the #Isles
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— Rob Taub (@RTaub_) August 19, 2025
“He earned that decision. It’s his decision to make. I can try and tell him we all want him to stay, but at the end of the day, he’s going to make it and he made it. I’m sure he’s fine with it. I know he’s fine with it and I’m fine with it too,” he added.
Clutterbuck said he saw how torn Tavares was in the days leading up to free agency. “I just remember him really being not sure… I think John really considered coming back,” he explained.
“At the end of the day, when you’re that guy and you get the chance to go home and be the guy and the hero, like if you’re looking at yourself in the mirror, and saying, as an outsider, and saying ‘I wouldn’t do that,’ you’re a liar… He had the chance to go,” he said.
The Us-Against-the-World Mentality That Drove the Isles
For Islanders fans, though, forgiveness was never on the table. Tavares’ first return to Nassau Coliseum turned into a circus of boos, taunts, and thrown jerseys.
While the fans vented, the team used the loss of its captain as fuel. “It ended up being good for him, and it ended up being really great for us,” Clutterbuck said.
“It was like our attitude was already ‘us against the world.’ We’re the New York Islanders,” he said.
Without Tavares, players like Brock Nelson and Mathew Barzal took on larger roles, while the freed-up cap space gave management flexibility to bring in veterans such as Leo Komarov and Valtteri Filppula.
The result: the Islanders made back-to-back conference final appearances, something few predicted after 2018.
Meanwhile, Tavares has produced at a steady clip for Toronto, even earning a four-year extension this summer. But playoff success has been harder to come by.
More than five years later, the Tavares saga is still a flashpoint among Islanders supporters. His exit is remembered with anger in the stands, but with pragmatism in the dressing room. For Clutterbuck, it all comes down to perspective.
