Matthews as Maple Leafs captain natural step for player, team

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The Maple Leafs are Auston Matthews’ team.

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That has become a fact during the past several seasons, with all due respect to Mitch Marner and William Nylander.

Matthews, one of the top centres in the National Hockey League, is the face of the Leafs.

That’s not a knock on John Tavares, who reportedly has been supportive of the Leafs’ decision to take the captain’s C off his sweater and give it to Matthews.

To save Tavares some potential embarrassment, the change in captaincy — which will be announced by the Leafs at a news conference on Wednesday morning — could have been done a year from now without any discussion, when Tavares’ contract expires. But with Tavares apparently on board (we would hope we get his side of things at the news conference), there’s no reason to wait.

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Doing it now, as Matthews’ four-year extension kicks in for the start of the 2024-25 season, symbolizes another step into a new Leafs era, one that dawned with the hiring of Craig Berube as coach in May after Sheldon Keefe was fired.

The relationship between a head coach and his captain is crucial, and it wouldn’t make much sense for Berube and Tavares to try to forge something that might not be necessary in a year. The safe assumption would be that Berube and Matthews have met several times during the summer to solidify a connection that will be paramount going forward.

While it’s true that Tavares could sign an extension with the Leafs before the 2025-26 season (it would have to be at a greatly reduced salary than his current $11 million U.S.), his best days as a player are behind him and his role would be reduced, something that could happen after play gets underway in October.

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It’s much different with Matthews. Even with his franchise-record 69-goal year still fresh, and with his Hart Trophy win in 2022, the argument easily could be made that his best NHL days are ahead of him. Matthews will turn 27 not long before training camp gets underway in September. His prime NHL years await.

Where Matthews is similar to Tavares is in stoicism and maturity. If there’s added pressure that comes with being captain of the Leafs, it won’t impact what Matthews does on the ice. Tavares was able to bear the weight of the Toronto captaincy and it shouldn’t be any different with Matthews. The changing of the letter on the front of his sweater to a C from the alternate captain’s A won’t make Matthews’ on-ice requirements any harder.

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Tavares fully understood the importance of what it means to be the Leafs captain. Matthews will make history in becoming the first American-born captain of the Leafs (and second non-Canadian after Mats Sundin), but his eight previous seasons in blue and white have properly set him up to take on the responsibility.

We’ll be curious to see where the change lands in the dressing room, though the respect that Matthews’ teammates have for him has been quite clear.

We recall what general manager Brad Treliving said when he was making the decision to let Keefe go: A new voice was needed behind the bench to help push the Leafs toward the goal of winning the Stanley Cup. Will a new letter for Matthews change the impact, or tone, of his voice has behind closed doors? At the least, it will have to carry further than it has before.

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If you adhere to the unwritten rule that your best player should be your captain, then the change to Matthews is a natural step for both the player and the club. If not, then the argument could have been made for Morgan Rielly, the longest-serving current Leafs player and one who is under contract through the 2029-30 season, to be the captain. Rielly carries the same amount of admiration in the Leafs room that any captain would, with his level-headed approach a significant reason for that.

The temptation might be to ask how making the Matthews the captain will make the Leafs a better team, and as a result, lead to actual success in the post-season and finally leave the pattern of one-round-and-out (other than 2023) behind.

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No matter who the captain is, the same truths remain. The Leafs’ core — Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Rielly — has to be at the forefront of making a difference in the playoffs. Goaltenders Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz, or one of them, have to prove they’re capable of helping take the Leafs on a long playoff run. And Berube has to find a way to make a discernible playoff improvement in a team that habitually had 100-point seasons under Keefe but couldn’t overcome annual springtime obstacles.

Matthews is the guy for the Leafs and has been for a while. He’s well on his way to becoming the franchise leader in goals, and has a legitimate shot at becoming the points leader as well. He’s their best player, period.

Making Matthews the captain a month shy of his 27th birthday is the natural step for the player and the team.

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