John Tavares back at Coliseum — this time as Islanders enemy

Ever since John Tavares tweeted, on July 1, a picture of his younger self in Maple Leafs bed sheets — ending a string of tweets confirming he was leaving the Islanders to go home to Toronto in free agency — 7 p.m. on Thursday has been looming.

The Islanders are already 62 games deep into their playoff chase without Tavares, while the Maple Leafs are right in the thick of it with him. The two sides squared off in late December, when the Islanders pummeled the Maple Leafs 4-0 in Toronto.

“We’ve kind of already had that game,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said. “So as players, it’s already been there, done that and we’ve moved on a long time ago. We have a special group in here that’s done a lot of things together and all that outside stuff is going to happen.”

But on Thursday, Long Island gets its chance for closure with No. 91, the former captain and No. 1 pick who rose to become one of the NHL’s best during nine seasons with the Islanders.

“He’s a superstar,” coach Barry Trotz said Wednesday after the Islanders made a last-minute decision to cancel their practice, instead using the time to watch video and take a mental reset ahead of the Maple Leafs visiting the Coliseum on Thursday.

Trotz never got a chance to coach Tavares, but he envisioned what it might be like for about a week in late June from the time he took the job until the All-Star center chose the Maple Leafs. But he has coached against him enough to know what the 272 goals and 621 points Tavares racked up in 669 games wearing an Islanders sweater meant.

“To be a superstar in this league, you get all the attention of the best players on the other team,” Trotz said. “Those superstars, you have a lot of respect for because it’s not easy when you have to carry the load. It’s a lot easier if you’re a second- or third-tier guy, where you can hide a little bit.”

“When you’re front and center, there’s nowhere to hide. And that’s where the top players in this league, they get everybody’s respect, they demand everybody’s respect because they have the weight of — a lot of times — the franchise or the team’s success on their shoulders.”

Tavares’ final home game as an Islander ended unceremoniously last April at Barclays Center, with the team missing out on the playoffs for the sixth time in his career.

“I’ve always wanted it to work out and stay, so that’s still what I hope transpires,” Tavares said after that home finale, a 2-1 win over the Rangers.

Less than three months later, after taking meetings with six teams in Los Angeles, he was gone, signing with the Maple Leafs hours after free agency began for seven years and $77 million. Entering Wednesday, he was on pace for a career year, with 36 goals and 68 points in 63 games.

Without Tavares, and with a new regime of Lou Lamoriello as president and general manager and Trotz as head coach, the Islanders have preached their strength is in the team, not any one player or line. Lee has replaced Tavares as captain, making a seamless transition to help fill the leadership void. Mathew Barzal — “The kid who won the Calder,” as Tavares referred to him at his introductory press conference in Toronto — has taken on a share of the top-center duties.

Still, tensions will be high Thursday at the Coliseum, where Tavares scored his first career goal the night he made his NHL debut against the Penguins in 2009.

“Another game for us,” said winger Josh Bailey, Tavares’ longtime friend and teammate. “Obviously there’s a little more surrounding it with Johnny coming back and what have you. I’m sure it’ll be an emotional night for him and some of our fans.”

— Additional reporting by Brett Cyrgalis