The New York Islanders just never stood a chance at retaining the now-departed John Tavares, who left the franchise after nine years to join his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs on a seven-year, $77 million contract.

Did the Islanders really think that the 27-year-old was going to commit the rest of his prime years to a dysfunctional organization that will be on its fourth head coach since 2010? Because if they did, then we feel must sorry for them.

Tavares was drafted with the first pick by the Islanders in 2009, and the team was gifted four top-five picks between 2010 and 2014 to build a roster around him. They went through multiple goalies every year, unable to find a long-term solution.

The Islanders kept trying to find Tavares the perfect linemates, but by the time he and Josh Bailey had formed excellent chemistry, No. 91 had made up his mind. He wanted to leave the Islanders and join his hometown Maple Leafs.

via Sportsnet

And what choice did Tavares have? If Sidney Crosby, Steven Stamkos and Alexander Ovechkin can have great supporting casts built around them, why should Tavares have decided to sign on for eight more years of mediocrity in Brooklyn?

The perennial All-Star carried the Islanders on his back for nearly a full decade, and it only culminated in three playoff berths - and just one series win. Why would Tavares want to stay, when the chance to play with Auston Matthews and legendary head coach Mike Babcock was waiting for him?

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The Islanders made a huge mistake in how they handled this. If Tavares was unwilling to sign a long-term extension at the trade deadline, they should have simply traded him for a monster package. That way, then-general manager Garth Snow would have secured this team some future assets to build around.

But they played with fire and got burned. The Islanders thought Tavares was going to stay loyal to a team that did very little for him, and they should have seen this coming from a mile away.

The Islanders kept wasting draft picks (when will Michael Dal Colle get his chance), and how much longer to they want to mishandle Josh Ho-Sang? Those are two prime examples as to why the Isles have been mired in mediocrity so much.

Signing veteran winger Andrew Ladd to a seven-year deal worth $38.5 million in the 2016 offseason also burned the Isles, who should have known that paying a second-liner top dollar would be a risk. They're learning that now.

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New York failed to address a leaky blue line that hasn't had a bonafide No. 1 guy in, well, probably well over a decade now. The ongoing goalie carousel also held this team back from being a championship contender. When on earth was it a good idea to give an oft-injured Rick DiPietro a 15-year, $67.5 million contract?

The Islanders just couldn't find Tavares his own Evgeni Malkin or Nicklas Backstrom. He didn't have a sidekick, he had to do it on his own far too often. Tavares was stuck working with career second and third line players as his linemates.

Look at everything and ask yourself: What kind of franchise superstar would want to spend another eight years on a mediocre team that was never going to build a championship contender around him?

If Crosby never had Malkin and failed to reach a Stanley Cup Final, he probably would have left Pittsburgh ages ago. Ditto for Ovechkin, if he didn't have Backstrom. And Stamkos would have surely left in 2016, had the Tampa Bay Lightning failed to build around him.

Tavares didn't only have to go to the Leafs. He could have joined the Lightning and earn a clear path to the Stanley Cup Final. He could have played on a contender out west, such as the Vegas Golden Knights or San Jose Sharks.

But when all was said and done, Tavares showed the world that he wasn't timid of signing in Toronto, the biggest hockey market in the world. He wants to win with his hometown team, even if the spotlight will be firmly on him every day between now and the day his contract expires.

Instead of giving Tavares one key reason to stay, the Islanders gave him every reason possible to leave. The Maple Leafs stepped in and offered the world to Tavares, who will try and bring his hometown team its first Stanley Cup since 1967. As for the Islanders, it's going to be a long time until they feel close to contending again.

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