In an interview with RG Media published on October 1, Misa had this to say about how Tavares influenced his game coming up through the minors: "In terms of modeling my game, I think it's a bit like John Tavares and a mix of, I want to say, Patrice Bergeron. Just two reliable centremen that are obviously incredible players, and just trying to watch them a lot and model my game after them."
Tavares seems to be the most underrated leader on this team and possibly in the entire NHL. He had the awareness to walk away from the captaincy, hand it over to a player in Auston Matthews who is the true future of the franchise and was already the leader on the ice, and then took a massive pay cut to remain with the Leafs and give them enough financial flexibility to possibly remain competitive.
"Mitch Marner needs some time to think about his future, spending weeks discussing with family after the Maple Leafs' disappointing playoff exit and approaching free agency."