The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t be making any official player leadership changes after the departure of Mitch Marner.

The 28-year-old had split alternate captain duties with Morgan Rielly for the past season (Rielly had home games, Marner had away games) after Auston Matthews was given the ‘C’ and Tavares was downgraded last summer. 

Marner also divvied up the home and away games with Matthews while he was an alternate captain. However, now, with Marner off to the Vegas Golden Knights, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube says he’s not adding another alternate captain into the mix.

“We thought about that and discussed it. I think we leave the A’s with Morgan (Rielly) and JT. But our leadership group is more than that, and that’s what matters for me,” Berube told The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel in a one-on-one interview. 

“You don’t have to have an A on or anything like that to be a leader. We have our leadership group and that group’s strong, and I think all the guys understand that. I think we’ll just leave the A’s with Morgan and JT right now. Whether that changes or not, it could. But right now, it’s not.”

As it currently stands entering next season, Matthews will carry the captaincy, while Tavares and Rielly will each wear an ‘A’. 

Tavares has worn a letter on his chest with Toronto ever since joining the organization in 2018. Rielly, who was drafted by the Maple Leafs fifth overall in the 2012 NHL Draft, has been an alternate captain with the club since 2016-17, his fourth season in the league.

Before being named the 26th captain in Maple Leafs history, Matthews was an alternate with the team since the 2019-20 season. The 27-year-old was also the captain of Team USA earlier this year at the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off and could lead his country again at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, next February.

The last time the Maple Leafs had just two alternate captains was during the 2014-15 season. Dion Phaneuf donned the ‘C’, whilst Joffrey Lupul and Stephane Robidas each had an ‘A’ on their chest.

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