FanHouse

With uber-prospect John Tavares (A boy who broke one of Gretzky's junior scoring records) set to be the first or second overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, you know he'll soon be signed to a big-money contract. That's not a surprise.

What is a surprise, however, is that he fired his agent ... and hired his mom!

Junior hockey phenom John Tavares has fired his agent and will now be represented by his mother, the Toronto Star reported in Tuesday's editions.

According to the Star, Tavares, expected to be the top pick in the 2009 NHL draft, has severed ties to player agent Bryan Deasley. Tavares's mother, Barbara, will be handling things for her son for the immediate future.

"We're looking in a new direction," Barbara Tavares told the Star. "I worked in a number of different departments in the banking system. I have pretty good experience in that area and when you run your own business (she and husband Joe run a business in the steel industry), you do whatever's necessary."

Now, I think this is a rather smart decision for Tavares, as he'll save himself the 3-5% commission that he'd have to pay an agent to look after his contract. With the CBA basically rubber-stamping rookie contracts to a hard maximum, what does Tavares need an agent for?

For a guy like Sidney Crosby, who gets lots of endorsements and such, having an agent is a necessary evil. For a guy like Tavares, all he needs is to hire a lawyer for a few hours to help hammer out and sign a contract. Otherwise, we know Tavares will get the rookie maximum, and is not likely to be getting many endorsement contracts.