TORONTO — The new captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs smiled and waved from the stage at the former captain’s young sons seated in the front row.
For the occasion of the torch passing — and to underscore that everyone is one big, happy family — Jace and Axton Tavares were decked out in mini Auston Matthews No. 34 replica sweaters, which can now be purchased with a “C” stitched above the heart.
“My one request today was for them to get a couple jerseys, have Auston sign them and add to their collection,” father John Tavares said Wednesday at Real Sports Bar & Grill, where the club’s 25th captaincy came to a close and the 26th kicked off in ceremony.
“That was pretty cool to see,” Matthews said, smiling.
Matthews, of course, is a deserving successor and ready for the responsibility.
In his eight NHL seasons, the No. 1 centre had already stacked his trophy case and become not only the face of the Maple Leafs but the face of USA Hockey and one of the sport’s most prominent and dominant personalities worldwide.
But one man’s promotion is often another’s demotion.
So, while Matthews’ ascent to the dressing room’s top honour at age 26 feels inevitable and natural and, perhaps, overdue as the superstar enters his ninth campaign, Tavares’ surrendering of the ‘C’ is more interesting.
Funny, on the day his work and home families gathered to celebrate this new chapter, Matthews spoke of how humbling it all was.
Yet it is the 33-year-old Tavares, truly, who has been humbled here — and handled what must be a blow to his pride with tremendous grace.
Remember, it was baby Jace who was decked out in 91 captain’s sweater in 2019 when Tavares was thrown his own jersey-reveal party.
“It speaks volumes about who John is as a person and where his priorities lie,” said teammate Morgan Rielly, who was also in attendance. “For him, the only thing that matters is our team and the results we’re able to get during the season.
“When this came about, I’m sure there were some challenges for him. But I think he’s handled everything like the class act that he is.”
How this came about is organically.
General manager Brad Treliving, in his first season on the job, observed how the players gravitated toward Matthews, how hockey’s deadliest shooter was also “an elite worker” carrying “a burning desire to be the best,” a whip-smart reader of the room, and a maturing personality thoughtful of those in his orbit.
Shortly after the season ended, in familiar Round 1 misery, the GM broached Tavares about relinquishing his captaincy to Matthews.
“Right from the start, John was on board,” Treliving said. “We had a couple discussions, but from the moment it was raised, he understood.
“He knew at some point this day was coming.”
That doesn’t necessarily make it comfortable, though the Maple Leafs did a superb job of thanking Tavares and directing focus on celebrating Matthews Wednesday with a full turnout for the presentation.
Past Leafs captains Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark were in attendance, as were current teammates Rielly and Mitch Marner, coach Craig Berube, plus Matthews’ family and MLSE brass members Larry Tanenbaum, Keith Pelley, and Brendan Shanahan.
The organization’s staff filled the restaurant to munch baked goods and snap photos and cheer the player, the decision.
It’s a decision that impacts two individuals differently in an effort to push the collective forward.
Tavares, Treliving said, will still wear an ‘A,’ though the rest of the alternate captains apparently have not been determined.
In Tavares’ discussions with his GM — with whom he must negotiate a contract extension at some point — the player stated that he didn’t come to Toronto as that splash $77-million free agent in 2018 to be captain. He came to win a Stanley Cup in his hometown.
Further, the mere presence of the Calder-winning sniper with a moustache still beneath the surface contributed to Tavares’ eagerness to sign.
“This wasn’t a hard conversation in the sense that John’s a really smart guy, and you start just having conversations about the team and the evolution. At the end of the day, everybody’s got the same goal, right? The goal here is to win,” Treliving said. “He’s seen the evolution of Auston. We walked through it, but it was a smooth process.
“It couldn’t be handled any better from John’s perspective.”
Tavares says the decision to pass the honour was made in conjunction with Treliving and Shanahan in mid-July and he gave Matthews a call to relay the news a week later in a conversation he’ll never forget.
The message in a nutshell: Now is your time to take charge.
“After he kind of let me know and everything, I told him I was, like, shaking. I had chills,” Matthews said. “There’s really no words to explain what it felt like. It was just very humbling.
“It’s a special honour.”
Just as it was for Tavares, the rare hometown kid who chose to play for Toronto in his prime, when so many other high-profile free agents did not.
“I’ve cherished every second of it. Never taken it for granted. And I’ve given the captaincy everything I have every single day. It has meant the world to my family and I,” Tavares said in a prepared statement.
“What Auston’s become as a player, as a person, as a leader, it just made a lot more sense and felt more and more right to me as time went on.”
Yes, Matthews as captain does make sense.
But it also makes sense that Tavares — the metronome of professionalism — wanted to save some pride himself, as his own parents and children and wife watched him hand over the ‘C’ from the front row.
“This decision is definitely not about whether I’ve succeeded or failed, whether I’m capable or that my time has passed,” Tavares asserted. “I feel stronger than ever in my ability to compete, play at a high level and make significant contributions through my leadership.
“This decision is a recognition of the maturation of a person who has shown a skill set that is special, unique, and who has a relentless drive to win. In that, I believe Auston can become more and that he’s ready for this honour and responsibility.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• Matthews on skepticism that the captaincy is merely an intangible change to a core that remains the same: “Everybody can have their own opinion. For us internally, we believe in one another. … We have an incredible fan base that supports us no matter what.”
• Eligible to re-sign any day, Tavares said extension talks were not part his captaincy conversations with management.
“I want to stay. That’s my desire, to stay,” Tavares said. “But I think it’s best that those things are kind of kept behind closed doors.”
• Marner (UFA in 2025) on his own future as a Maple Leaf: “I’m not gonna get in that too much today. I’m just gonna say that I love being here. I’ve stated that from Day 1. I’m very fortunate and lucky to be a Maple Leaf. And today is about these two amazing people beside me.”
• Treliving on the status of defenceman Jani Hakanpää, whom the GM previously said signed as a free agent but who is not yet on the Maple Leafs roster as health concerns linger: “We’re working through that. Today, we’re dealing with this. But we’ll get to that, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
• How will Matthews change his leadership approach?
“I don’t think I need to change who I am or my process or the way that I approach the game or anything,” he said. “I think it’s just continuing to learn and to grow as a teammate, as a leader, as a person, and continue to take steps forward in those areas and just try to be the best version of myself that I can be for this team.”
