John Tavares remains a productive scorer in the NHL in his mid-30s. He revealed that experiencing Andy O'Brien's training early in his career opened his eyes to what it takes to play at the highest level. Now, O'Brien will be bringing that experience to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are going into the 2026-27 season with a fair share of NHL veterans. That includes newcomers Sergei Bobrovsky and Colton Sissons, as well as Morgan Rielly, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Chris Tanev, and some others. They are the fifth-oldest team in the NHL with an average age of 29.92, according to Elite Prospects.
Maple Leafs center John Tavares can't be forgotten on that list, as one of the critical leaders in Toronto's dressing room.
Attached to those qualities of Tavares is his impact on the ice, even at the age of 35, going on 36 on Sep. 20. This past season, he led the Maple Leafs in goals with 31 and notched 71 points while featuring in all 82 games.
The way he trains and looks after himself has been a key element in what he's accomplished in the NHL. And getting a taste of Andy O'Brien's training style early in his career opened his eyes to what it takes to be elite.
Gearing up for year No. 18, Tavares is ready to hit the ice after a productive off-season in his eyes.
"I had a really good offseason," he told reporters, including TheHockeyNews.com's Michael Traikos. "Just want to keep doing what I'm doing. I think continue to push the envelope to find ways to improve, but understand what my strengths are and continue to evolve my game, and still be highly productive and expect a lot of myself."
At his age, any NHL player will eventually get slower, and the game seems a bit faster for some. But a big factor in why Tavares has been able to remain productive and still serve as Toronto's second-line center has been his mentality, working on his own craft, and focusing on his strengths.
The proof has been evident, as year after year, Tavares remains an elite goal-scorer - recording at least 30 goals in three of the past four years. Also, he's arguably the best faceoff-man in the entire league, winning 58.8 percent of his draws over the past five years. Of players who have taken at least 5,000 faceoffs in that span, Tavares ranks No. 2 in win percentage, just behind Claude Giroux's 60 percent.
With that in mind, Tavares isn't interested in reinventing the wheel, but will continue to tweak his strengths.
"There's always little things you try to focus on, but I think the biggest thing is just trying to make sure your strengths are your strengths," he said. "I understand the parts of my game that need to get work on and be stronger. You always want to touch on that stuff, but I don't think you want to always look too much to reinvent the wheel, but to continue to fine-tune the things that you're good at.
"Understand how that fits into who you are as a player and your role within the team, and how you continue to push yourself to improve and get better and impact the game at a high level. So I love it as much as ever, driven as much as ever. I continue to try to do the things I need to do to be the type of player that I've been and find ways to continue to evolve the way that I've been playing throughout my career," Tavares added.
Recovery and preparation can contribute to being a successful athlete at 35 years old, just as much as hard off-season training can. Tavares understands that, and it's kind of been his M.O. throughout his career, even as a young player in the early 2010s.
Tavares has noticed that the way players recover and develop now, compared to when he entered the league, has changed, but for the better.
"Things have definitely evolved," he said. "I think the sports science just continues to get better and better. The way I think guys work on their game and the way they get really in tune with what they're doing and how they're doing it, it continues to get better and better. So whether that's on ice, whether that's off ice, whether it's recovery, how you eat, how you feel yourself, all those things. I think, naturally, the bar is getting raised."
In the early stages of Tavares' illustrious career, he got a taste of the training that Sidney Crosby and O'Brien conducted. O'Brien was hired this off-season by the Maple Leafs as the VP of sports performance.
"What really benefited me was being around Sid after my rookie season, going out to Andy O'Brien's Vail camp and getting around what his regimen was like," Tavares said. "The intensity, the level of competitiveness, the will, the desire to play the game and to get better at it, not just in putting his skates on, but how he trains, how he takes care of himself, and it was really eye-opening and realized I had a long way to go and the type of player I want to be in the level you want to play at and hope you're hoping to accomplish."
The intensity and competitiveness that Tavares recalls from O'Brien's training will help push the Maple Leafs' aforementioned veterans. More than anything, the addition of O'Brien will allow those experienced players to maintain their level.
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