Islanders co-owner: Tavares won't be a free agent in 2018

Unlike Steven Stamkos in Tampa, there will be no suspense when it comes to whether John Tavares will re-sign with the New York Islanders.

This according to new co-owner Jon Ledecky, who maintains the franchise center and team captain is "not going to be a free agent" when his contract with the Islanders expires at the end of the 2017-18 season.

Instead, he and Scott Malkin will work toward ensuring Tavares is surrounded with enough talent to bring the Stanley Cup to Brooklyn.

"We should be the world-class destination for free agents," Ledecky said, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday. "If you think about a capped world, everybody can spend to the cap, and we certainly have no constraints on our (general manager) and our staff to spend.

"We want to create and continue to progress toward John Tavares lifting that Stanley Cup, so we should be world-class in everything we do."

The Islanders made a splash in free agency this summer by signing winger Andrew Ladd to a five-year, $38.5-million contract. Ladd's $5.5-million cap hit is equal to what Tavares will carry over the next two seasons, but that number is set to rise significantly on his next contract.

Tavares and the Islanders can officially begin negotiating an extension on July 1, 2017.