Tavares in no rush to sign extension

John Tavares says he's no longer in a hurry to agree to a contract extension with the New York Islanders.

"For me, there's really no rush," Tavares told Newsday's Arthur Staple on Wednesday. "I'm trying to determine things, let the process run its course, keep the lines of communication open, keep it all internal and it's been good so far."

The Islanders captain said back in April that he'd like to get a new deal done "as soon as possible," and while he is under contract with the Islanders for one more season, he's been eligible for an extension since July 1.

Tavares told Staple he's waiting to see how the club's potential bid for a new arena in New York's Belmont Park plays out. The state issued a request for proposals for development of the area on July 30, and while the Islanders are expected to propose building a new facility there, the bids aren't due until late September.

Newsday reported back in the spring that the club was likely to offer the star forward an eight-year extension worth upward of $10 million per season, and Tavares essentially confirmed Wednesday that an offer of that length is on the table.

"The possibility with Belmont and that RFP coming out, there's great potential there," he said. "We'll see where it goes. A lot of those things are out of my hands. Some things I don't try to worry about them too, too much. I'm just a hockey player. I try to be as best prepared as I can be. It's a big decision obviously because it's eight years of my career, really entering into my prime years and a great opportunity for myself to achieve what I set out to achieve when I was a kid, making it to the NHL, wanting to win a Stanley Cup and wanting to do that with the Islanders."

Tavares will become an unrestricted free agent if he's not signed to an extension by next July 1.

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