John Tavares enters uncharted territory as Islanders' season begins

Since arriving on Long Island for training camp just about a month ago, the only time John Tavares has heard about his contract situation was when reporters have asked.

“Well,” he hesitated with a smile, “except when Johnny [Boychuk] has been busting my chops about it. But that’s just Johnny.”

Tavares is entering uncharted territory as the 2017-18 season begins on Friday in Columbus and the Islanders’ captain enters the final season of his current deal without any extension on the table, per his own camp’s wishes.

Tavares has taken a wait-and-see attitude toward the numerous uncertainties surrounding the Islanders, from the quest for a new arena to the team’s play on the ice after missing the playoffs for the fifth time in his eight years here. That waiting will bring questions once the Isles hit the regular-season circuit.

But inside his room, with the 23-man roster set on Tuesday, Tavares is comfortable and surrounded by players, coaches and staff on the same mission he is.

“I really didn’t know how it was going to be,” Tavares said after a summer of hand-wringing from Isles fans and hopeful trade conjurings from north of the border. “I just want to have fun, enjoy it and the guys know who I am as a person and as a player, so I just try to be myself. There’ll be a time and place for all that and as we go along we’ll see what happens.”

Boychuk jokingly tried to supplicate to his captain for the playful shots. “I just give him little pokes here and there. It’s all in fun . . . I hope he forgives me, I beg his forgiveness. I love him.”

Boychuk also knows what it will be like when the Isles travel around the NHL this season. “Oh, they’re going to be bombarding him,” he said. “They’ll be hovering over him, when we go to Toronto, it’ll be, ‘Hey, John, how would you like to play here?’ And he’ll be like, ‘I’m playing for the Islanders, I like it here.’ It’s going to be tough for him because everywhere he goes he’ll get the same question. He’s very professional in the way he goes about things.”

As Doug Weight noted, this situation could be more fraught if there were bad blood between Tavares and the Islanders’ front office. But there is none, and coach and captain are on the same page.

Equally important is that Tavares and his teammates are on the same page. There seems to be no wishing this to be resolved quickly.

“There’s been no talk about my situation,” Tavares said. “We’re all just excited about the team we have and we’re excited to get going. That’s where our mindset is — there’s no talk about my situation at all. It’s about trying to do something great together.”