The Toronto Maple Leafs have confirmed star forward Auston Matthews as their new captain.
Matthews, who is 26, thus became the 26e captain in the history of the Ontario franchise. He succeeds his teammate John Tavares, who played this role for six seasons.
“Honestly, I get chills. I’m honoured, and very proud,” Matthews said at a news conference called Wednesday morning. “Ever since I was drafted eight years ago, I’ve realized how special it is to play for a city like Toronto, to wear the maple leaf on your jersey every night.”
“That says it all,” he added.
Matthews signed a four-year, $53 million contract last August that kicks in this season. Tavares, meanwhile, could become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said he approached Tavares about the captaincy change shortly after last season ended.
The general manager, who is entering his second season in Toronto, said Tavares agreed with the decision “from the start.”
“It wasn’t very hard to convince him, because John is a very smart guy,” Treliving said. “At the end of the day, everyone has the same goal, right? The goal is to win. You have to constantly find new ways to achieve that goal.”
“John, from the beginning, has witnessed the evolution of Auston. It’s been a smooth process,” he agreed.
Tavares said he took some time to assess the team’s progress after its sixth first-round exit in eight seasons, but he concluded it was best to hand the “C” to a younger player in the Leafs’ core.
“It made sense, and the more I thought about it, the more I knew it was the right decision, especially after talking to him [Treliving]because Auston has progressed as a player, as a leader of men,” Tavares said.
Tavares will remain part of the Leafs’ leadership, serving as Matthews’ backup next season. Treliving added that the other backups will be named at a later date.
Tavares attended the press conference and assured that he supports the decision.
“I think my only request today was that they [mes enfants] get some jerseys, and have Auston autograph them so they can add them to the collection,” Tavares said. “It meant a lot to me and my family. It’s great that my kids get to know Auston like the other guys on the team did.”
Matthews said he was unaware that Tavares’ children would wear his jersey.
“It was enough cool to see them wearing the no 34 with the “C”,” the American acknowledged.
Tavares, a 33-year-old veteran, said he called Matthews in late July to tell him about the captaincy change.
“We’re talking about one of the best hockey players in the world,” Tavares said. “It’s amazing how he motivates his teammates, sometimes without even realizing it, with his immense talent and work ethic.”
A changing of the guard for a wind of change
The captaincy change is the second major decision to occur in the Maple Leafs camp this summer, following the firing of head coach Sheldon Keefe and the hiring of Craig Berube, who won the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019.
On the ice, the Leafs signed defensemen Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to multi-year contracts, while also signing goaltender Anthony Stolarz and forward Max Domi to a contract extension.
Treliving said Berube was not involved in the process of naming the team’s next captain, as he is still getting to know his players.
In eight seasons with the Maple Leafs, Matthews has earned numerous individual honours. He won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s top rookie in 2017, the Hart Trophy as the Bettman League’s top player in 2022 and the Maurice Richard Trophy as the league’s top scorer three times — including last year when he scored a career-high 69 goals.
He is missing the most prestigious trophy of the bunch, the Stanley Cup. In April, the Leafs lost in the first round of the playoffs for the sixth time in eight seasons. They lost in seven games to the Boston Bruins in a series in which Matthews was limited to just one goal, partly because of an injury that was bothering him.
The Toronto team hopes that this changing of the guard in the locker room will allow it to take the next step in the playoffs.
“Guys want to follow him. He walks into a room and everybody wants to get behind him,” Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said of Matthews. “We’ve also had the great privilege of being led by John [Tavares] in recent years, and he was a great captain. I couldn’t think of a better person to bestow this honor on and pass it on to than Auston,” he concluded.
Matthews, who was selected first overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Draft, has spent his entire career with the Toronto team.