Toronto Maple Leafs Name Auston Matthews Captain

The Toronto Maple Leafs will hold a press conference at 11:00 am EST on Wednesday, August 14th.

There it is expected that the Toronto Maple Leafs will announce that star center Auston Matthews will be named captain. Matthews will be the 26th captain in franchise history, taking over for teammate John Tavares who has worn the "C" since 2019.

The transitioning of captains makes sense now, as the team has undergone many large organizational shifts in the past year or so with the ousting of former GM Kyle Dubas, and Head Coach Sheldon Keefe, along with many other organizational shifts.

Matthews has an impressive resume himself, most notably having worn the alternate captains "A" with the club since 2019.

Toronto Maple Leafs Name Auston Matthews Captain

Although it is uncertain how Matthews will do as captain, it is evident that he is capable of leading on the ice with his play. He is a consistent scorer having eclipsed the 60-goal and 100-point marks in two of the last three seasons. On top of his offensive production, he is one of the better defensive forwards in the game, earning Frank J. Selke votes each of the past five years, even finishing as a top-three finalist this past year. 

Many speculated that Matthews would be named captain in 2019, when the Leafs opted to go with marquee free agent signing, John Tavares. The move made sense with Tavares being in his prime, his experience level, resume, and only being a year into his seven-year $11 million AAV deal. He had already been a captain in the NHL for five seasons with his former team, the New York Islanders before leaving the team that drafted him in free agency to join the Leafs in a "coming home" story. He was also the captain for part of one season with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with a very high pedigree to his name.

Since being named captain, Tavares has left a strong legacy behind him. He will likely end his current contract finishing in the top-20 all-time Leafs scoring. His reign as captain will be most remembered for his clutch overtime goal in 2023 that clinched the Leafs’ first playoff series win since 2004. Entering the final year of his current contract, changing leadership now makes sense and signals a passing of the torch moment and helps to further separate this current Brad Treliving regime from the old Kyle Dubas regime.

The captaincy is another honor to cement Matthews’ legacy as the greatest Maple Leafs player of all-time and this move will further cement his NHL legacy as a whole. He is the team's best player and was the team's first overall selection in 2016 and has become one of the league's best players. He is well on track to owning many Leafs franchise records by the time he retires. He currently ranks sixth in all-time points with 649, being only 338 points from tying current leader and former captain, Mats Sundin. He also sits third in goals with 368, a record he could overtake from Sundin as early as next season, only requiring 53 goals to take first place.

Matthews is entering the first year of a four-year contract worth $13.25 million AAV, this will be his ninth NHL season. He already has three Rocket Richard trophies in his trophy case along with a Ted Lindsay Award, and a Hart Trophy. He will undoubtedly look to be the first captain in franchise history to add a Stanley Cup since George Armstrong in 1967.