It was late July when Auston Matthews got a call he wasn’t expecting and experienced the kind of emotions he likely didn’t wake up anticipating.
Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares was on the other line with a message: It’s your time to take over as captain of the Maple Leafs.
“I was shaking. I had chills,” Matthews said. “For (Tavares) to call me…to pass on the captaincy to me, it was very emotional. I felt a lot of things, but it’s truly an honour.”
Those emotions haven’t just lingered but pulsated in the weeks since. Matthews took centre stage at Real Sports in downtown Toronto in front of a packed house of fans and MLSE employees on Wednesday as he was officially announced as the 26th captain in Leafs’ franchise history. Through multiple media availabilities, Matthews’ evident, proud grin beamed as bright as it has ever has during his eight seasons in Toronto.
Being named captain is both an opportunity and a challenge Matthews sounds ready to face.
“I look forward to continuing our journey to obviously get to the top of the mountain and win the Stanley Cup and bring it back to Toronto,” Matthews said, looking at Tavares.
The Leafs might have always been Matthews’ team since he was drafted in 2016 and ushered in as the new face of one of the most important franchises in North American sports. But as of Wednesday, the Leafs are now officially under Matthews’ purview. He just began the first year of a four-year contract extension that makes him a Leaf until 2028.
Naming Matthews captain feels like a decision made with the long term in mind. “That’s the goal: To be a Leaf for life,” Matthews said.
Discussions between Tavares and Leafs general manager Brad Treliving took place over days through July as a change was contemplated. When Tavares signed as a free agent in Toronto in 2018, he never assumed he would be named captain. He accepted the challenge. But he also knew deep in the back of his mind that eventually, as Matthews grew as a person, a player like him might step in and become captain after him.
“This decision is a recognition of the maturation of a person who’s shown a skill set that is special, unique and who has a relentless drive to win. In that, I believe Auston can become more,” Tavares said.
After nearly five years as captain, the passing of the torch from Tavares to Matthews is not only a logical move. It’s one that – given the lack of genuine alterations to the Leafs roster this season – the organization seems to be banking on as a harbinger for change.
If there’s a person Leafs management wants the rest of the team to be following, it’s the uber-talented and uber-cool Matthews. Not every NHL player, whether they’re destined for the top or the bottom of the lineup, has the internal makeup to play in Toronto.
There’s the increased media attention compared to most NHL markets. The constantly simmering frustration from a fanbase that is seeing a Stanley Cup drought continue into its 57th year. Matthews does have it in him.
GO DEEPER
Auston Matthews to be named Maple Leafs captain
“There’s certain individuals that just have that ability,” Treliving said. “People want to follow (Matthews). He walks into a room and people are gravitating to him and people naturally follow him.”
On the ice, there is no doubt why players want to follow his lead. Matthews was the first Leaf to win a Hart Trophy since 1955 and has three Rocket Richard Trophies. He can change a game at both ends of the ice. It’s off the ice where things might change for Matthews. Not that that’s a bad thing, or could be that difficult for him, though.
Remember when, back in January, Matthews was named captain of the Atlantic Division team at the All-Star Game in Toronto? The ease with which he handled being the face of the weekend felt like a trial run for the Leafs captaincy, as drastic a step up as it represents. Look closer at Matthews and he has been building toward this transition in his own way throughout, at the very least, the last season.
Early in his career, it was easy to assume that Matthews didn’t exactly love all the attention that comes with being, you know, the best player in franchise history. He could joust with the media and brisked at questions about his life off the ice. In that regard, it was worth wondering whether the added responsibilities off the ice might distract from what Matthews will be tasked with on the ice: Being one of the best players in the world, one who will have to take this team on his back on any given night.
That concern isn’t warranted.
As of late, Matthews has looked and sounded more comfortable and thoughtful and less combative in front of the cameras. Leading isn’t a strange new world for him. The stories of him forming bonds throughout the roster continue to grow, whether that was with fourth-liner Zach Aston Reese in 2022-23 or being a sounding board for fellow Arizonan Matthew Knies as he worked his way through his rookie season. Matthews repeatedly had Knies over for dinner in Toronto this season.
Treliving referenced how there will be “uncomfortable” things that need to be said to this Leafs team throughout the season. He believes Matthews can deliver that message authentically to those closest to him.
“(Matthews’) relationship to his teammates is probably one thing that isn’t exposed to (the media),” Morgan Rielly said. “How much he cares for the people in the room, how much he cares for his friends and his teammates, we’re very lucky to have him.”
Hosting a full team party at his house in Arizona during an off day this past season when he had every right to just be with his family speaks to that.
It feels likely there will be a new, young and emerging core of players coming up within the Leafs soon enough: Knies, Easton Cowan, Fraser Minten, Topi Niemela and Ben Danford strike as the kind of players who will need to be ushered into the Leafs quickly.
“We’re now drafting players that had posters up of Auston Matthews on their wall when they were little kids,” Leafs resident Brendan Shanahan said. “Auston has that ability: It’s not something he’s worked on, it’s something he was born with. People want to follow him.”
You can debate the merits of a team’s best player also serving as its captain. But Matthews clearly wants to take more ownership of this team, his team. Matthews sounded more engaged than ever on Wednesday at the idea that, as captain, he will be more responsible than ever for the team’s success.
Isn’t that an attitude you want from your best player, firmly in the prime of his career?
Add it up, and Matthews taking over the captaincy feels like the right move for the direction of the Leafs.
But will that move end up being a small step, or more of a leap? Will this change help lead to tangible results?
The goal this season is the same as it has been for what feels like a lifetime in Toronto: Make a significant playoff run. The Leafs will enter 2024-25 after Shanahan promised “Everything is on the table” going into the offseason. But there was a lack of seismic changes this offseason. That means Matthews donning the “C” could lead to even more questions coming his way during the season.
But in Matthews, the Leafs believe they have the right person to continually answer those questions. They believed now was the time, instead of possibly next summer when Tavares’ current seven-year contract ends, to allow Matthews even more of a chance to put his stamp on the Leafs.
It’s hard to say Matthews isn’t ready to do just that.
“I know,” Matthews said with the kind of authority you can’t fake, “who I am as a person.”
(Photo of Auston Matthews: Andrew Francis Wallace / Toronto Star via Getty Images)
