Auston Matthews is, at last, Toronto's top dog.
But can the team's new captain finally lead them to that ever-elusive championship?
Well, if nothing else, let us make sure the Toronto media aren’t involved in planning any upcoming birthday parties.
As the news spread on Tuesday, naturally, like wildfire, that the Toronto Maple Leafs would be naming star forward Auston Matthews the 26th captain in team history, it came with great fanfare.
Think pieces and breakdowns, across social media and the blog sites. Wide-reaching discussion on both player and the state of the franchise.
Etc, etc.
Of course because secrets don’t come for free, all that insider confirmation, all that chatter? It happened a day before the actual announcement.
So much for surprises, huh?
‘Tis life.
But in a relatively low-key press conference on Wednesday morning, the Leafs made it official. Matthews is now the team’s captain. He replaces John Tavares who, in a commendable moment of unity, was there alongside his long-time teammate to pass the leadership torch and per TSN, fully backed the decision.
When [general manager] Brad Treliving and I met at the end of this past season and discussed ways for our team to take the next step, we both agreed that Auston is ready and it’s his time to lead. [It has] been an incredible honour to serve as captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs these past five seasons. Looking forward, I will do everything to support Auston as we continue our pursuit of the Stanley Cup.
On paper, it makes sense.
Matthews is a top-five (top-three, depending on who you ask) player in the sport, the goal scorer of note in this mini-era, a two-hundred-foot dynamo who has consistently improved his game year-over-year and has evolved into an impressive leader during his time in Toronto.
And his 2023/2024, on an individual level, you might remember, was one the best, most complete seasons in recent memory: 69 goals, third in Selke voting, a career-high 107 points. When considering his offensive and defensive acumen both, he is a player with no true equal.
He’ll be 27 when the new season starts this October, right in the prime of his career. He is already a three-time goal-scoring leader, a one-time MVP and is entering the first year of a new contract that will make him the highest paid player in the NHL.
He will be the first American to captain the Leafs and just the second non-Canadian, following Mats Sundin, as he continues his relentless climb up the franchise’s all-time-player ladder.
And already a key member of the team’s leadership group, while he may now be wearing the “C”, it would be a miscalculation in expecting Matthews to radically alter his approach.
He is brash, bold and is hockey’s answer to the social-media age athlete, one who openly disregards much of the sport’s oft-limiting traditional thinking (while having seemingly made his troubling off-ice behaviour a thing of the past).
It is an ascension that has often felt inevitable since the moment his career began, in 2016.
If anyone is going to lead the Leafs back to true contention, it will be Matthews.
Tavares though, is tricker.
There is precedent for a player relinquishing his captaincy (Dustin Brown, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau being the most notable examples) but with just one year left on his contract, for “JT”, his immediate future seems murky at best.
He’ll be 34 come September (read: a veteran statesman in sports parlance) but is still a key piece on the offensive end, despite the growing questions surrounding his overall game.
Perhaps now however, with a somewhat reduced role, he’ll be able to contribute more effectively under a smaller spotlight as he transitions into the next stage of his career (no word yet on any potential contract extension).
Ultimately though, the focus is not the individuals per se but rather on the team as a whole, as they continue searching for playoff success and the franchise’s first championship in 57 years.
And despite another flame-out against Boston last season, their overall makeup, even with a few new additions (Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Anthony Stolarz) is still primarily top-heavy. As expected, here now, halfway through August, as training camp looms.
Let’s be honest: at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who is wearing the letters if you can’t win when it matters most.
But maybe, in the spirit of eternal Leafs fan optimism, this is the first step on that renewed process - with Craig Berube replacing Sheldon Keefe behind the bench and Matthews, in contrast to Tavares’ more composed style, now leading the team, in every facet, on the ice.
Until the season begins however, until the puck drops, we’re left with something of an incomplete picture.
So it goes.
After all, success never comes easy, especially in Toronto sports, where even just the suggestion of potential will always come with heightened expectations.
The catch, as always? It is seeing if those promises can be fulfilled.
Time, it seems, will tell.