Toronto Maple Leafs John Tavares stepped aside from captaincy

On the heels of the news that Wednesday the Toronto Maple Leafs will be holding a press conference to name Auston Matthews the nineteenth captain in club history, many people have tried to determine the last time a team had stripped the captaincy away from a player currently under contract and if it had any bearing on the team moving forward.

TSN National Hockey League insider Gord Miller pointed out possibly the most obvious and necessary changing of the guard when the Edmonton Oilers named Wayne Gretzky the captain after the captain of the 1983 Oilers Lee Fogolin stepped aside shortly after the team lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the New York Islanders. Coincidentally the Oilers went on to win the Cup the following season.

Which leads to the news being reported that will be shared on Wednesday. Miller has pointed out that John Tavares had been spoken with and he decided to step aside so that Auston Matthews is named the 26th captain in team history entering the 2024-2025 season.

Former National Hockey League player Matthew Barnaby also expressed that when he was with the Dallas Stars, the team took the captaincy away from Mike Modano and placed it with Brendan Morrow. Barnaby's feelings about the "C" is that it's overrated and whether it's on Matthews' chest or not, this is his team no matter what.

While the captaincy in general is an honour, it's just a letter and it doesn't matter who is wearing it, especially with the amount of leaders a team has at any given time. Saying that it's important to understand that a change was necessary for the team to move forward into the next era of what the Toronto Maple Leafs can and should be in the immediate future. Without question, Mathews is the best player to ever wear the Toronto Maple Leafs jersey and it's possible he could be the best American-born player to ever play in the National Hockey League when his career is said and done. The Maple Leafs and their fans are lucky to have such a talented player who has grown into a leadership role and his time is now to help bring glory and respect back to the team and the jersey which he wears.