Indeed, when the 35-year-old became the 49th player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal plateau against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 29, there was very little reason to celebrate. Nor was he about to. Even with his milestone moment, the Maple Leafs were still trailing the Blue Jackets 6-2 in a game Toronto would end up losing 6-3.

We've debated these stars' qualifications for hockey's highest honor before. Have they helped or hurt their cases in the meantime?

John Tavares scored his 499th NHL goal on a breakaway at 1:28 of overtime and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 on Saturday night to end a three-game losing streak

The Toronto Maple Leafs honored John Tavares with a special pregame ceremony on Wednesday to commemorate his 500th career NHL goal. Before the Maple Leafs game against the Utah Mammoth, the team showed a tribute video highlighting Tavares' time in Toronto. Tavares then skated from the bench to his family as the crowd cheered him on.

After the NHL’s frozen frenzy on Tuesday night, there is just one game on the docket for Wednesday night. The Columbus Blue Jackets return home from a quick two

John Tavares didn’t get to celebrate his 500th NHL goal last week in earnest, but he delivered another stellar performance for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 5-3 victory over the Utah Mammoth.

Austin Matthews scored a goal, John Tavares assisted on two others, and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 on Saturday night. Matthews netted his sixth goal of the season with a snap shot from the left circle at 6:16 of the first period to tie the score 1-1.

There may only be four games on the docket on Monday night in the NHL, but there are always a handful of player props worth looking at. My best bets for Monday