Tavares criticized by journalist for “not living up to his salary.”

If there is one thing that controversial Toronto journalist Steve Simmons knows how to do well it is how to get under the skin of fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

Simmons has never held back when it comes to criticizing the team and its players and over the weekend he once again took aim at the Maple Leafs, this time honing in on captain John Tavares. Simmons' opinion on Tavares can largely be summed up on a question he posed to himself during his Sunday notes column:

"So what exactly is Tavares besides overpaid?

Simmons was highly critical of Tavares arguing that he has not earned his hefty salary of $11 million per season, but also provided a long list of centers that he believes could currently be ranked ahead of the Leafs captain. That list included players he felt were clearly ahead of Tavares, players that included the likes of Connor McDavid, Tavares own teammate Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl, Sidney Crosby, Anze Kopitar, Aleksander Barkov, Mark Scheifele, Mathew Barzal, Sebastian Aho, Brayden Point, Patrice Bergeron, Ryan O'Reilly, and Sean Coutier and also included players he felt could be positioned ahead of Tavares as well including the likes of Nicklas Backstrom, Jack Eichel, Bo Horvat, Elias Pettersson, Dylan Larkin and Evgeni Malkin. 

The sheer number of centers listed here make the criticism seem harsh, especially when you consider that Tavares has put up solid numbers this season with 9 goals and 18 assists for 27 points in just 32 games, but I can perhaps see why Simmons feels that $11 million is simply too much. Interestingly enough Simmons was not the only journalist to seemingly call out the Maple Leafs captain over the weekend with Rangers insider Larry Brooks of the New York Post also having some much more mild criticism to share on Tavares.

I'm sure Brooks' comments will be much more well received by members of the Leafs fan base, but for Tavares they may sting even more given that it is more of an attack on his body of work than his current form. Brooks revealed that he does not feel Tavares has done enough to earn a spot among the true greats of the game.

From Brooks:

I don’t think John Tavares has done enough at this point to be a Hall of Famer. Do you?

Has the Leafs captain deserved the heat he is facing from the media? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.