John Tavares of the Toronto Maple Leafs will take the stand in a courtroom today. According to an article by Joseph Brean in the National Post, Tavares and former teammate Patrick Marleau will serve as witnesses in a trial concerning the taxation of the signing bonuses they each received from the Maple Leafs.

Rather than his current contract, the trial stems from how Tavares’ signing bonus in the first year of the deal was taxed when he initially signed with Toronto in the summer of 2018. Tavares signed a seven-year, $77MM contract with his hometown team, and he received a $15MM signing bonus in the first year of the deal. According to the article, there is a dispute of about $8MM over taxes.

The Canada Revenue Agency contends that the $15MM signing bonus should be classified as employment income, making it subject to a tax rate exceeding 50%. In contrast, Tavares argues that the signing bonus was an “inducement” to join Toronto, meaning it should only be taxed at 15%, a rate he has already paid.

Essentially, it will come down to how the word “inducement” is being interpreted. The CRA has already argued that some signing bonuses can be interpreted as inducements, but in the case of Tavares and Marleau, they were not. It’s worth noting that there is no accusation of dishonesty or wrongdoing for Tavares, only of how each party is interpreting the tax law.

Other updates from around the Eastern Conference:

• The Hartford Wolf Pack, AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers, announced a pair of coaching hires this morning. Hartford has hired Bob Woods as an Associate Coach and John Stevens as an Assistant Coach for the 2026-27 campaign. Each has several years of professional experience on their resume. Stevens is the son of John Stevens, who, in the 2009-10 season, was the Head Coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. He was fired and later replaced by Peter Laviolette, who led the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final that season.
• The Wolf Pack weren’t the only AHL franchise to make a coaching hire today. According to an announcement from the New Jersey Devils, their AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets, have hired Michael Zalewski as an Assistant Coach. It’s Zalewski’s first role as a coach since retiring from the ICEHL after the 2022-23 campaign. The native of New Hartford, NY, has six NHL games and 167 AHL games of experience from his playing days.