Mats Sundin on captaincy, Auston Matthews, Stanley Cup hopes

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Mats Sundin didn’t get to see Auston Matthews on the ice Wednesday, but you can bet the new captain of the Maple Leafs is on the mind of his most successful predecessor.

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By the time Matthews completes his contract in 2027-28, he likely will have broken all of Sundin’s franchise scoring achievements.

Matthews is just 52 behind him in goals (420-368), 25 in power-play markers (124-99) and 16 back in game-winning goals (79-61) while already having eclipsed the Swede at even-strength (274-273).

The grandaddy of ‘em all would be franchise points, of which Sundin amassed 987 in 13 seasons to pass Darryl Sittler, Dave Keon, Borje Salming and George Armstrong, with Matthews reaching 649 so far through his eight years.

Records were made to be broken, though Matthews was taking a maintenance day Wednesday and is questionable to play Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens in the team’s next exhibition game.

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“For sure,” Sundin said Wednesday as he took the club’s invite to watch camp over the next few days. “If (Matthews) keeps up this pace, it will be over pretty quick.”

The 53-year-old Sundin rarely strays from his native Sweden, where he returned after NHL retirement to raise three kids, though made a point of coming to Scotiabank Arena as a Hall of Fame member two years ago to be at what turned out to be an ailing countryman Borje Salming’s final appearance.

But Sundin insists the Leafs bond is still a strong one and takes an active interest in the team, watching the previous night’s games with his three kids the next morning and following such storylines as John Tavares passing the captaincy this year to Matthews.

“My 13 years here were the most fun in my pro career (that began in Quebec and ended in Vancouver). Beating Darryl’s record, and Auston’s obviously going to beat mine and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

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“You look at the team Toronto has now and it’s arguably the most talented (in recent team history). You look at the forwards, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, (John) Tavares, so much talent up front.

“Auston has got all the possibilities to break a lot of records (not just his, but of Wayne Gretzky and Alex Ovechkin). Anything is possible.”

But Sundin learned all that that glitters isn’t goals.

“Goal records are just the small things, it’s about trying to win a championship,” he said.

That eluded him, though he has made it further than Matthews, twice appearing in the final four of the playoffs, including the most recent Leafs team to make the conference final in 2002. It’s part of a 57-year championship drought that Sundin and Matthews, fair or not, have had to carry along with the ‘C.’

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“I think Auston will do great,” Sundin said. ‘You want to see the best player also be the leader and take responsibility for the whole group.”

Sundin was often compared in his day to Mark Messier, a far more demonstrative captain, though many more restrained men have raised the Cup.

“I think all the best I’ve seen, Joe Sakic, Scott Niedermayer, Nicklas Lidstrom, even Dougie (Gilmour) and Wendel (Clark) here … good leaders lead by example, I don’t think it’s a big rah-rah speech that usually makes the difference, it’s day in and day out, getting the respect from your teammates.”

Matthews now bears the mantle of ending the Cup curse, dealing with the ever-optimistic expectations that clash with the negativity of so many recent playoff setbacks.

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“Toronto is a special place to play, different than anywhere else in the league,” Sundin said. “It’s going to take, more than anything else, experience, growing as a group. If you’re going to win the Cup, you’re going to need the whole group going well, the experience of going to the playoffs, losing in the first round, learning what it takes.

“It’s a different market, there are pressures from the outside and inside, It’s different than Florida, for example. I talked to (Cup-winning defenceman) Oliver Ekman-Larsson and (told him) in Florida, no one recognizes you, whether you are a star player or not. You come here and everybody signs autographs because you’re a Leaf.

“It puts more pressure on the players, but there’s no better place in the league.”

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Sundin, who has a book coming out next month, hasn’t closed the door on the long-held belief he should be more involved with the team. He is close to Max Domi through the winger’s father and former teammate Tie, though it was the Swedes such as Pontus Holmberg and Alex Nylander who were surprised to see him on the viewing deck on Wednesday.

Sundin stood with general manager Brad Treliving, team president Brendan Shanahan — a playing rival — and fellow ex-captain Clark, whom he was traded for in 1994, one of the most debated deals in club annals.

“He’s a great Leaf we all know that, great captain, great player,” coach Craig Berube said. “I’m so happy he’s here, spending time with us, being around the guys and the coaches.

“A guy like that who played as long as he did, was as good a player as he was, has a lot of knowledge.”

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