Toronto Maple Leafs: It’s Time For Some Captain Morgan
By Josh Tessler
Who will be the next captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs?
That’s been the question since Dion Phaneuf departed the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Ottawa Senators. He was the 18th captain in team history, but since he was dealt in February of 2016, the franchise has yet to name a replacement.
The Leafs don’t have a captain on their current roster. At the moment, the Toronto Maple Leafs have three alternate captains. Leo Komarov, Tyler Bozak and Morgan Rielly are the alternate captains.
On July 1st, Bozak and Komarov will become UFAs. Both of them most likely won’t be resigned to new contracts and will be on a new team for next season. The only man standing is Rielly.
To be honest, I’d love it if Rielly became the 19th captain in franchise history for multiple reasons. My favorite reason is that Leafs fans could refer to Rielly as “Captain Morgan”. For those who are unfamiliar with different varieties of rum, the British alcohol beverage company, Diageo owns a Jamaican rum brand known as Captain Morgan. While Rielly won’t be selling spiced rum for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario anytime soon, he could theoretically be imparting his wisdom as captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Why Rielly Deserves To Be Captain Over Matthews?
The other obvious choice for captain is Auston Matthews.
The Toronto Maple Leafs front office could place the “C” on Matthews’ sweater. It would make sense as he is the face of the franchise. Yet, I don’t think it would be the smart choice. Matthews hasn’t shown that he is a leader yet. He can be a captain by example, but he needs to be vocal on the ice, bench and locker room as well to qualify as an exceptional leader. It doesn’t mean that he can’t become a leader in the future, but he is still quite early on in his career.
He does have a role model in the locker room in Patrick Marleau. It was evident throughout last season that Marleau was working with him and Mitch Marner to work on leadership personality traits. While Marleau is the role model that Matthews needs, it’ll take more than a few months to learn how to be a leader. Perhaps, Matthews’ leadership traits will take shape in the 2018-2019 regular season.
On the other hand, I think that Rielly is ready to take on the responsibility. He shown multiple times throughout his career that he’ll own up to his mistakes. As a leader, you need to own up to your mistakes and understand how to improve. Not only is it a reminder that you need to work on specific drills in practice, but it also provides a message to your teammates. Your teammates will understand that it is okay to make mistakes and making mistakes at the end of the day will make you a stronger athlete.
Rielly The Mentor
In addition, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a ton of young defensemen on the roster and in the system. It was evident last season that the Maple Leafs have a number of issues on defense. As captain, Rielly would be a great mentor for fellow young Maple Leafs defensemen. Over the course of the next few seasons, he could work with Timothy Liljegren and others to ensure that they are ready.
Rielly’s line-mate, Ron Hainsey was seen as a teacher/mentor in the defensive zone last season. Hainsey worked with Travis Dermott to make sure that he understood different strategies in different situations. When Hainsey leaves the club after next season, the Maple Leafs will be in dire need of the next mentor to come to light. If Rielly can showcase some of his mentorship traits early on, the Maple Leafs front office won’t have to search very far for the next captain.
While he’d be a solid mentor, he also is a leader by example. In 76 games played last season, he registered 6 goals, 46 assists, 24 power-play assists and a 51.6 CF%. This past season was his best season to date. If he continues, he’ll have a lot of defensemen in the organization and across the league looking up to him.
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All-in-all, Rielly would be a great captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Plus, he’d have a great nickname. Leafs Nation could refer to him as “Captain Morgan”. Additionally, perhaps he’d be the next face of Captain Morgan across Canada.
stats from hockey-reference.com