Toronto Maple Leafs make right choice not naming Matthews captain

The Toronto Maple Leafs will go another season without a captain. Though Auston Matthews is inevitably going to be the next captain, the Leafs are wise to wait.

The Toronto Maple Leafs made a wise decision when they assigned three alternate captains for the 2018-19 season and none of them were named Auston Matthews.

John Tavares, Patrick Marleau, and Morgan Rielly were all named alternate captains as the Maple Leafs have once again chosen to enter a season without a true captain.

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Leaving Matthews out of the alternate captain group certainly raised some eyebrows. But given the amount of experience and leadership on the team, the center didn’t need an “A”. Although he’s in his third season in the league and would be a great candidate to be an alternate captain, Matthews is surrounded by better options given the experience and leadership of his teammates.

Prior to Tavares signing in Toronto, it’d likely have been a safe bet Matthews was going to be named captain of the Maple Leafs. Once Tavares signed it changed everything as the Maple Leafs have two great captain candidates and don’t need to rush to name one. They can take the season to see if Matthews continues to mature into the role or if Tavares displays the same leadership that earned him the “C” with the New York Islanders.

Some will attempt to compare Matthews’ situation to Connor McDavid’s and the Edmonton Oilers given how McDavid was named captain after his first season. Comparing those two situations is apples and oranges given the Oilers have been a mess for years while the Maple Leafs have been steadily improving for years.

Edmonton needs McDavid to be captain because the leadership group on the Oilers, or lack thereof, desperately requires it. However, when compared to the Maple Leafs, Matthews doesn’t need to be named captain because he has teammates who spent years as leaders of their former franchises. Tavares was captain of the Islanders for five seasons and Marleau was captain of the San Jose Sharks for four seasons.

As for the third alternate captain, Rielly, he’s the third-longest tenured Maple Leaf behind only Nazem Kadri and Jake Gardiner. At only 24-years old, Rielly has been the leader on Toronto’s blue line ever since the last captain, Dion Phaneuf, was traded. Given how every team likes to put at least one letter on a defenseman, it hardly makes sense to take the “A” Rielly’s worn previously and give it to Matthews.

Then there are the candidates who weren’t named alternate captains who easily could have been. Nobody has been on the team longer than Kadri having played his first game with the club in the 2009-10 season. He might still suffer from brain cramps resulting in playoff suspensions but on a lesser team, he’d likely wear a letter.

Ron Hainsey is no stranger to being a leader on teams given his 16 seasons of experience across six franchises. Yet he is a total afterthought when it comes to the leadership group given the number of quality candidates on the roster.

If it were any other team with significantly less talent it’d be very easy to name Matthews alternate captain or even captain. However, the Maple Leafs are fortunate enough to surround the 21-year old with a tremendous leadership core allowing the superstar to focus on his on-ice performance.

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Given he’s also entering a contract year, Toronto likely felt the added pressure that comes with a letter on the jersey isn’t something Matthews needs. After all, it’d be unfair to expect Matthews to play at his best during a contract year, after just being named an alternate captain, while trying to live up to the hype this season surrounding the team after Tavares’ arrival.

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