Once training camp opens in less than a month the Toronto Maple Leafs will still be without a captain for a team expected to be a Stanley Cup contender.
With the offseason signing of John Tavares and the continued maturation of Auston Matthews, the Toronto Maple Leafs have two logical candidates to wear the “C”. However, they appear determined to be patient in naming what would be the 22nd team captain in franchise history.
Given Tavares’ experience as captain of the New York Islanders for five seasons, the 27-year seems like a no-brainer. However, it’s worth examining the potential consequences. There will be loads of expectations and pressure placed on Tavares to perform not only because he’ll be playing for his hometown, but also due to the massive contract he signed.
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Due to the unavoidable issues he will be facing in his first season in Toronto, there’s no need to add on avoidable pressure such as the captaincy. The best result would be to wait for Tavares’ second season as a Maple Leaf should he be chosen as the club’s next captain.
There’s also the issue of potentially upsetting Matthews if the Maple Leafs were to select Tavares as the new captain. During Matthews first two seasons in the NHL, it felt like every game was the next stage of the center’s grooming process to being named the club’s next captain.
Long before Tavares ever signed in Toronto, almost everyone in the city had already settled on the idea of Matthews being the next captain.
The Maple Leafs were following in the footsteps of former clubs like the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers with how they handled the first years of their franchise players. Pittsburgh and Edmonton allowed Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid to get their feet wet in the NHL before being named the captain of their respective clubs.
The only difference with Toronto waiting longer than the Oilers and Penguins as to why Matthews wasn’t already named the captain is due to the awful mistiming of the Dion Phaneuf captaincy. The Maple Leafs’ previous captain, Phaneuf, unfortunately, had the captaincy placed on him far too quickly as he had only been with the franchise for less than six months.
As a result of the pressure and the extra tasks involved in being a captain in a hockey media hotbed such as Toronto, his play suffered and naming him captain so quick would be a move the club would later regret.
It wasn’t all Phaneuf’s fault. After all, the leadership group surrounding him didn’t do much to support him nor were his teams very competitive. Still, Phaneuf’s rushed captaincy is the biggest reason the Maple Leafs remain hesitant to name a new captain today.
Now, given Tavares’ arrival, at a time most were likely prepared to accept Matthews as the new captain, Toronto should wait to choose the next captain despite the two strong candidates. The Maple Leafs should let the season play out to truly determine the best player to wear the “C”. In the meantime Toronto could form a dream team of four alternate captains.
Tavares along with Matthews, former San Jose Sharks captain Patrick Marleau, and Morgan Rielly could all be named alternate captains forming a dynamic leadership group as this team spends the season transforming from a playoff team into a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.