Report: Auston Matthews Captaincy Discussion Began with John Tavares in Maple Leafs' Exit Meetings in May
Reports came out on Monday that Toronto was headed for a captaincy change before the Maple Leafs said there'd be a team announcement on Wednesday.
The Auston Matthews captaincy discussion appears to have begun after the Toronto Maple Leafs' first-round series loss to the Boston Bruins.
According to TSN's Chris Johnston, the Maple Leafs started the dialogue with captain John Tavares about Matthews potentially becoming the next captain of Toronto during the team's exit meetings, just a few days after their playoff elimination.
"It's a conversation that started, I think in a serious manner, as quickly as when the team's season ended in May with that loss to Boston in the first round. It's my understanding that John Tavares, when he had his exit meeting a couple days after that Game 7 loss with team management, it was brought up that this was at least a possibility," Johnston reported during TSN's Sportscentre on Monday evening.
"And those conversations continued to a point where John Tavares was comfortable handing it off to Auston Matthews, and I think from the Leafs' organizational perspective, they've been thinking all along that this could be where they get eventually.
"Between those two things, and with everything else that happened this offseason, I think everyone got to a point where they're comfortable with it and certainly internally, the Leafs feel that Auston Matthews is ready to take even another step. He's been a leader on this team. He's worn the 'A' for a number of years. But to formally make it his team, they felt it was the right time that a change was needed with the team looking for better results here entering next season."
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Reports surfaced on Monday evening that Toronto would be making a change to their captaincy. Shortly after those reports were released, the Maple Leafs said there'd be a "team announcement" on Wednesday morning.
Evidently to announce that Matthews would be the 26th captain in Maple Leafs history.
Tavares has been the captain of the Maple Leafs since Oct. 2, 2019, just over a year after he signed a massive seven-year, $77 million to return home and play for Toronto. Matthews has shared assistant captain duties with Mitch Marner since the 33-year-old was named captain.
The Toronto captaincy decision is massive for the organization, which has only won one playoff round with the core of Matthews, Marner, Tavares, and William Nylander. It would take some cooperation from Tavares, which Johnston says happened throughout the whole process.
"Well, he really wants to be a Maple Leaf, and that hasn't changed for him. And so I think, as those conversations happened between Brad Treliving (Maple Leafs GM) and John Tavares, the fact that he would remain team-first, that he was wanting to do what was best for the organization, I think probably helped things along.
"That's not to say it was the democracy. I mean, the decision probably would've happened one way or another whether he was on board. But it's certainly a benefit that he is behind this. I expect him to be at Wednesday's news conference when Auston Matthews is formally given the 'C'."
Tavares has been eligible to sign a new deal with the Maple Leafs since July 1. As Johnston says, it's the player's goal to remain with Toronto, but with the captaincy announcement coming on Wednesday, he doesn't believe talks are at a serious stage just yet.
"Obviously John Tavares is entering a big year. He's entering the final year of his contract and I think he's interested in trying to stay and be part of the Leafs. Obviously, he's shifting to a different stage of his career and still wanting to bring a championship to his hometown team," Johnston said.
"And so this might be a step along the lines of eventually getting to a point where he's signing another contract in Toronto, although that's a little bit premature to say that's happening. I don't get the sense talks are anywhere in a serious manner at this stage."
In 440 games with the club, Tavares has 184 goals and 235 assists for 419 points. He also has 11 goals and 11 assists in 24 playoff games with Toronto.
Matthews is entering the first season of a four-year, $53 million deal signed last summer. The annual average value of the contract is $13.5 million, the highest AAV among players in the NHL.
He hit a career-high with 69 goals in 81 games last season, winning his third Rocket Richard Trophy since entering the NHL in 2016.
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