John Tavares Supports Maple Leafs Changing Captains

The Toronto Maple Leafs opened talks with John Tavares about a captaincy change soon after their season ended.

Jan 8, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) and center John Tavares (91) leave the bench as they celebrate win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs are preparing to announce a slight change in their on-ice leadership group. John Tavares will relinquish his captaincy and hand the keys over to Maple Leafs’ superstar forward Auston Matthews.

Tavares has one year remaining on his contract, and his future in Toronto isn’t certain, so what forced the Maple Leafs to go in this direction? According to NHL insider Chris Johnston on TSN, this has been a topic of conversation within the organization for a few months.

“It’s a conversation that started in a serious manner when the team’s season ended in May,” Johnston said. “It’s my understanding that John Tavares, when he had his exit meeting… it was brought up that this was at least a possibility.”

The Maple Leafs seemingly always planned on naming Matthews their captain at some point in his career, but they also made sure Tavares was accepting of the change.

“Those conversations continued to a point where John Tavares was comfortable handing it off to Auston Matthews,” Johnston said. “From the Leafs’ organizational perspective, they’ve been thinking all along this could be where they get eventually.”

Before Tavares was named captain just before the start of the 2019-20 season, the Maple Leafs had gone over three years without a captain. Matthews was among the top contenders to fill that role, but just over a week before the “C” was handed to Tavares, it was revealed Matthews was facing a disorderly conduct charge in his hometown of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Matthews said he took ownership of the situation at the time and focused on learning from the incident.

With a few years between the disorderly conduct and the upcoming announcement, the Maple Leafs feel as an organization that Matthews has matured as a player and a person.

“Certainly, internally, the Leafs feel that Auston Matthews is ready to take even another step,” Johnston said. “To formally make it his team, they felt it was the right time.”

Johnston also reports that Tavares wants to remain a member of the Maple Leafs and is supportive of the change.

Matthews will become just the second non-Canadian captain of the Maple Leafs and the first American. Sweden-native Mats Sundin is the only other Maple Leafs captain born outside of Canada.

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