On Monday, Darren Dreger of TSN reported that Auston Matthews will be the next captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs. On Wednesday, general manager Brad Treliving and Leafs management will be holding a press conference to officially announce Matthews’ promotion. This decision on paper, seems like a simple change of a letter on the jersey. However, there is a lot to unfold with this decision.
Tavares was not Stripped of the ‘C’
Even though John Tavares is losing his captaincy to Matthews, it seems that the former captain is responsible for this change in some way. In the past, with other teams, we’ve seen captains get flat-out stripped. Whether it’s because of poor performance, attitude, or whatever the case may be. For example, in the 2021-22 season, the Winnipeg Jets stripped Blake Wheeler of his captaincy. At that time in his career, his performances weren’t up to the standards of a captain in the eyes of Jets fans and management. They named a new captain last season, and he goes by the name of Adam Lowry.
However, the Tavares-to-Matthews situation is a little different. According to Dreger, Tavares fully supports the change of Matthews being the new captain. Furthermore, he said that the former captain was ‘heavily involved’ in the process alongside Treliving. This almost gives the idea that he might’ve presented this idea to management. Whether or not that’s true, the 33-year-old has always been a class act throughout his career and was a terrific captain for the Maple Leafs.
According to Chris Johnston, Leafs management had discussions about the captaincy change right after they were eliminated by the Boston Bruins in the playoffs. That aspect of the situation should be known.
Tavares Passes the Torch
Now that Matthews is expected to be named captain, it’s a good time to look back at what Tavares has done for the team while he was captain. Tavares wore the ‘C’ for five straight seasons with the Leafs. Throughout those years, he’s been nearly a point-per-game player. In 358 games, he’s scored 137 goals and 331 points. As a second-line centre, he does almost everything you can ask of him. Not only is he a lethal sniper, but he also has great two-way tendencies. Tavares is one of the best in the league when it comes to winning faceoffs. In fact, last season, he was the best faceoff-man among all players who took at least 1,000 draws. Tavares sat at the top with a 59.3% rate.
The Mississauga native has also had some historic moments as a captain of his childhood team. In the 2022-23 playoffs, Tavares scored the series-winning goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning. With that goal, Toronto advanced to the second round for the first time in 19 years. A more recent moment was last season against his former team, the New York Islanders, where Tavares scored his 1,000th career point. Toronto was down a goal late in the third period. With the goalie pulled, the Leafs equalized on a Morgan Rielly goal, which was assisted by Tavares. It was a great moment for him and his family, there was that viral clip of his dad celebrating passionately amongst all the dads on the father’s trip.
John Tavares getting his 1,000th point right in Islanders fans faces to tie the game in the final seconds while his dad watches on. Pretty incredible lmao pic.twitter.com/YqeuFRyyh5
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) December 12, 2023
The History of Re-Assigned Captains
It’s not often we see a situation where captains are reassigned in the NHL. Yet, it has happened on several occasions in the league’s history. TSN’s, Gord Miller remembers when the Edmonton Oilers lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the New York Islanders in 1983. Lee Fogolin, who was captain at the time, thought it was appropriate to pass the torch to Wayne Gretzky to become the new captain. With that change, the Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup the next year.
It’s not to say that this will happen to the Maple Leafs next season, but there is something to look at here. While the 80’s Oilers are one of the best teams ever assembled, it’s hard to ignore that this captaincy change might’ve had an influence. Making Matthews captain could leave a mark with this Maple Leafs team. It could be a positive change that sparks the locker room and team morale. However, such a change could ignite opposite feelings, but based on what’s reported, it doesn’t seem like that’s the case.
Who Will Be the Alternates?
Previously, Matthews was a part-time alternate captain, shared with Mitch Marner. But now that he will be the captain of the Maple Leafs, there has to be a change for who wears the ‘A.’ Rielly has been an alternate captain for eight straight years, so that seems unlikely to change, leaving one more spot available. Tavares was an alternate captain in his first season with the Maple Leafs. According to Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun, the Leafs had plans to name Matthews captain after Tavares’ first season. However, he had an incident in Scottsdale, Ariz. which resulted in Tavares being named captain instead.
Therefore, it makes sense for Tavares to hold the remaining alternate captain spot. There is a possibility that Marner could still hold a part-time alternate captain role. However, his contractural situation makes it a little more tricky.
Main Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
