The Toronto Maple Leafs Have a Captain on Every Line
As the architect of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s not likely that Kyle Dubas had it in mind but he built a club that can feature a captain on every line.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs take the ice for the first time in 2021, they will feature a very special lineup. Their roster is stacked with former captains, which allows them to very likely play games with a captain on each of their four forward lines.
General manager Kyle Dubas was criticized for the composition of last year’s team. The internet was rife with ideas on how to address the Leafs problems and take them beyond the obstacles keeping them from progressing beyond the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. One thing that has never been in question is the collection of dressing room leaders. Over this offseason, that has only improved.
As much leadership that the franchise has, only one player can be the official captain. Ahead of the 2019-20 season, John Tavares was given that title. He became and remains the 25th captain in Maple Leafs history. It was a move that some saw coming while others were surprised that the clues they saw online didn’t lead to Auston Matthews getting the ‘C’.
When Matthews didn’t get the nod, the Maple Leafs conspiracy theorists believed that the plan was to make him the captain. They say that the plan changed when the news broke that he had been charged with disorderly conduct. The charge was later dismissed. We will get back to Matthews shortly.
Joe Thornton
Over the offseason, Dubas signed a hockey legend to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He recruited the long-time NHL captain, Joe Thornton. Jumbo was handed the captaincy of the Boston Bruins prior to the 2002-03 season. That reign lasted until 2006 when he was traded to the San Jose Sharks for three players.
Thornton’s next opportunity to wear a ‘C’ in the NHL came in 2009 as the captain of the Western Conference All-Star Team. Then, ahead of the 2010-11 season, he became the captain of a second team, the San Jose Sharks. Thornton was trusted with the leadership position for the Sharks until it was stripped away by his head coach, Todd McLellan, in August of 2014.
Jason Spezza
There were very high expectations of Jason Spezza when he became the second overall selection (Ilya Kovalchuk went first-overall to the Atlanta Thrashers) of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He did not disappoint. Spezza has had an incredible career, which all started with the team that plucked him out of that draft, the Ottawa Senators.
When Daniel Alfredsson left the Senators to join the Detroit Red Wings via free agency, Spezza was chosen as the perfect choice to replace him as team captain. On Sep. 14, 2013, the Sens made it official and named Spezza the eighth captain in franchise history. At the end of that season, it was revealed that he had requested a trade out of Ottawa. That offseason, Spezza got his wish and was shipped to the Dallas Stars. Jamie Benn was the captain in Dallas throughout Spezza’s time there.
Captains in the Front Office
The players aren’t the only ones with pedigree. Right at the organization’s top, there sits a man who has worn many jerseys with a ‘C’ sewen onto its chest. Despite some of the Maple Leafs President, Brendan Shanahan’s past antics, he was seen as a leader over the course of his NHL playing career.
When Shanahan was traded to the Hartford Whalers, the organization saw him as the player they needed to elevate their place in the standings. Even though he played just one full season in Hartford, he did it as the team’s captain.
Shanahan also had the responsibility of being captain of a couple more notable teams. When he was named to his eighth All-Star Team in 2007, there was something a little different about that experience. This time, Shanahan was a captain for the yearly exhibition game. He led his Eastern Conference All-Star squad to a loss against the Joe Sakic led Western Conference.
In international play, Shanahan once again had the opportunity to be the team captain. In 2006, he led Team Canada at the IIHF World Championship. That group lost their bronze medal game to Finland, giving them a fourth-place finish.
The Maple Leafs’ bench boss was also a captain once. It was because of this position that Sheldon Keefe’s snubbing of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) commissioner David Branch is still remembered. Keefe was the Captain of the Barrie Colts when he refused to shake hands with Branch after winning the 1999–2000 OHL championship. It goes to show that the actions don’t just matter but get cemented in history.
John Tavares
The Leafs weren’t the first to name Tavares a captain. That distinction belongs to the New York Islanders. They were fortunate enough to benefit from the terrible play that put them in last place in the 2008-09 season, allowing them to draft Tavares with the first-overall pick of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
In September of 2013, after a year where he was a Hart Trophy Finalist, the Islanders trusted Tavares to be their captain. Taking over for Mark Streit, who was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers, Tavares became the 14th captain in Islanders’ franchise history.
Auston Matthews
As already detailed, Matthews didn’t become the captain of the Leafs but that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t had the role while playing on NHL ice. In December of 2018, NHL fans decided that Captain Matthews had a nice ring to it.
Hockey fans were trusted with the power to determine who would not just participate in the 2019 All-Star festivities but also who would captain each team. Matthews was elected as the Atlantic Division captain for All-Star Game.
Alex Kerfoot and Jimmy Vesey
There are others on the Toronto Maple Leafs who have had the distinction of being named a captain of their team. Jimmy Vesey and Alex Kerfoot are among them. They were both captains of their NCAA team, Harvard Crimson.
Not only did both players hold the role but Kerfoot earned it when Vesey vacated the position to join the New York Rangers. Kerfoot was actually a co-captain along with his teammate, Devin Tringale.
Jake Muzzin
Reaching all the way back to his time playing Major Junior hockey in the OHL, we can find another former captain on the Maple Leafs. In Jake Muzzin’s final season with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, he was honoured by being named team captain.
Muzzin had a great season. As an overage player that year, he won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL’s top defenceman. His strong play was what led him to earn an NHL contract with the Los Angeles Kings.
A Captain on Every Line
It’s unclear right now what the lines will look like for Keefe. It’s almost certain that Spezza and Thornton won’t play together. There’s a good chance that they will each center one of the bottom two lines.
This leaves Tavares to cover one of the top two lines. Simple math tells us that it places a captain on three of the Toronto Maple Leafs four forward lines. In order to count that one remaining line to have a position filled by a captain, we accept Matthew’s role in the 2019 All-Star Game. It was still the NHL after all.
Sprinkle in Kerfoot and Vesey for good measure and add Muzzin’s experience to the blueline just to round things out. Thinking of the Leafs in this way is enough to make the most cynical Leafs fans excited for the upcoming season.
A closer look at what the line composition may look like will show exactly how the wealth of captaincy is spread. The top line may include Zach Hyman, Matthews, and William Nylander. We already know about Matthews’s history but it’s worth noting that Hyman was the captain of the Hamilton Red Wings, his junior team in the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL).
Toronto’s other top-line would then likely feature Ilya Mikheyev, Tavares, and Mitch Marner. While we are already well aware of Tavares’s history, it’s important to note that in October of 2015, Marner was named a co-captain of the London Knights in the OHL. Marner’s teammate, Christian Dvorak, shared the duties with him.
The third line may feature Kerfoot playing with Thornton and Wayne Simmonds. That would likely set up the fourth line to mean Spezza plays with Vesey and Alexander Barabanov on his wings.
Alternate Captains
The role of captain isn’t just a symbolic one. It allows the player on the ice to speak to the referees and respectfully ask them questions. Rule 6.1 of the NHL rulebook specifically outlines this responsibility.
Only the Captain, when invited to do so by the Referee, shall have the privilege of discussing any point relating to the interpretation of rules. Any Captain, Alternate Captain or any player who comes off the bench and makes any protest or intervention with the officials for any purpose shall be assessed a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct under Rule 39 – Abuse of Officials. The Referee and Official Scorer shall be advised, prior to the start of each game, the name of the Captain and the Alternate Captains of both teams. No playing Coach or playing Manager or goalkeeper shall be permitted to act as Captain or Alternate Captain.
Not only are these players leaders in the dressing room, but their on-ice advocacy can potentially subconsciously sway game officials in the way they call the game. This same task falls on the shoulders of the alternate captains.
The NHL rules say that a team can only dress two alternates in a game but a team can give the position to as many players as it likes to share the responsibilities throughout a season. When the Maple Leafs named Tavares as its captain, they also decided that they wanted three alternates. Defenceman Morgan Rielly was given the ‘A’ full time. The other duty was split between the forwards Matthews and Marner. The pair rotated as the team’s alternate captain last season.
There are other players on the Leafs who have also served as an NHL alternate captain. Simmonds spent five seasons in that role on the Flyers and T.J. Brodie had it for some games with the Calgary Flames during the 2015-16 season.
Even Zach Bogosian has worn the ‘A’. He had it on two different teams. He became an alternate captain on his first club, the Atlanta Thrashers, for the 2009-10 season. He then had it again for the 2017-18 season, while playing for the Buffalo Sabres.
The former captains were also former alternates. Tavares was an alternate for Streit on the Islanders and Thornton was both an alternate for the Bruins and Sharks. Spezza was an alternate for the Sens and the Stars.
One of the Toronto Maple Leafs new players, Barabanov, has also been an alternate captain playing professional hockey. He wore an ‘A’ on his SKA Saint Petersburg jersey while playing in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).
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Time will tell if whether having so many captains on one team will equate to success. No matter what happens this season, at least the assembly of all the Leafs leaders has allowed for the creation of this article that uses the word “captain” a criminal 70 times.