Maple Leafs captain: Why John Tavares is giving Auston Matthews the 'C' for Toronto

There will be a changing of the guard in Toronto. 

This summer was expected to be an offseason of change in the Six. Following another early playoff exit, the speculation was that the organization would undergo serious roster turnover, including splitting up the core group. 

The Maple Leafs did make a switch at head coach, firing Sheldon Keefe before bringing in Craig Berube. However, there is another leadership alteration that is set to occur ahead of the 2024-25 season. 

The Athletic's Chris Johnston reported on Monday that the Maple Leafs are expected to name star center Auston Matthews as the new captain of the team, removing the captaincy from veteran center John Tavares. Matthews has been the face of the franchise since he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2016, and now sees the "A" he was wearing on his sweater upgraded to a "C."

The Leafs are expected to make the official announcement on Wednesday at a press conference, according to Johnston. 

Matthews will become the 26th captain in franchise history for Toronto. He won his second Rocket Richard Trophy this past season, leading the NHL with 69 goals while finishing the year with 107 points — both new career highs. 

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Why did the Maple Leafs make Auston Matthews captain?

Toronto's decision to strip Tavares of the "C" and give it to Matthews is an interesting one, especially given the timing of the move.

The Maple Leafs were rumored to potentially be moving on from the "Core Four" — Matthews, Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander — following another first-round loss in the playoffs. While the group has enjoyed success in the regular season, they have just one postseason series win in six seasons.

With Tavares and Marner both entering the final year of their contracts, they seemed like logical trade options. However, no deal came to fruition. The Maple Leafs beefed up the blue line in free agency, adding Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, while making the change at head coach to Berube, but the big move that was anticipated by fans never came. 

Instead of moving on from one of the core members of the group, the Leafs are hoping that the leadership change from Tavares to Matthews is the key to getting the club over the hump. Johnston reported that Tavares has been heavily involved with the conversations surrounding the captaincy and is "believed to have supported the handoff to Matthews."

The captaincy switch is an uncommon but not unheard of move in the NHL. While most teams wait until the current captain retires or leaves the team, there have been circumstances where the bearers of the "C" step down from their role in favor of another. It happened in San Jose when the Sharks took the captaincy from Joe Thornton in favor of Joe Pavelski, as well as in Los Angeles when the Kings handed Anze Kopitar the "C" from Dustin Brown. 

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Auston Matthews contract

Matthews is the centerpiece of the Leafs organization. He has been since he was taken first overall eight years ago, and he has lived up to the hype. 

For his efforts, Toronto inked Matthews to a massive extension last season, signing its franchise center to a four-year, $53 million contract that just kicked in this summer. Matthews' AAV of $13.25 is the highest in the league. 

John Tavares contract

Tavares is entering the final year of his seven-year, $77 million contract he signed with the Leafs in free agency in 2018.

Toronto and the center were unable to come to terms with an extension this summer, but there is still plenty of time if the two sides want to extend their relationship beyond the 2024-25 season. Tavares will hit free agency next summer if no deal is agreed to. 

Maple Leafs captain history 

Matthews is set to become the 26th captain in Maple Leafs franchise history, and the fourth since the turn of the century. 

Here is the full list of captains in Toronto club history: