Tavares wants Islanders 'experience' to continue

When healthy, few in the game today can produce like Islanders captain John Tavares.

In 587 career regular-season games for New York, Johnny T has tasted plenty of regular-season success, tallying 235 goals and 302 assists for 537 points. So, it's understandable that the 26-year-old soon-to-be free agent wants to stay in N.Y.

"It's obviously a great place to play," Tavares told TSN on Tuesday. "I've really enjoyed my time being an Islander and I want that experience to continue. I'm just trying to focus and get ready for Day 1 of training camp, approach it like I have every year."

Despite dealing with several nagging injuries last season, including a hand issue that required surgery, Tavares was still able to contribute and logged yet another solid offensive campaign - a fact that Tavares remembers when training for the upcoming season.

"For me personally, I don't know why I would change my approach. I think I keep learning, keep getting better," he said.

"You're always tweaking things, seeing where some things have worked well and parts of your game have come a long way. I'm just trying to get better and be the best player I can be for the Islanders."

Tavares has one year remaining on his six-year, $33-million deal signed in 2011. He will become an unrestricted free agent at the completion of the 2017-18 season.