Matthews named Maple Leafs captain, replaces Tavares

TORONTO -- Auston Matthews was named the 26th captain in Toronto Maple Leafs history Wednesday.

He is the first United States-born player to be captain in the franchise's 107-year history and the second non-Canadian player to hold the role; Mats Sundin of Sweden was captain from 1997-2008.

The 26-year-old center replaces John Tavares, who had been captain since Oct. 2, 2019, and will be an alternate.

"I got chills, honestly," Matthews said about being named captain. "I'm so honored and humbled since being drafted here eight years ago. You realize how special it is to play for the city of Toronto, to wear the Maple Leaf on your chest every single night. It just means the world to do that. To have the support from Johnny, my teammates, our staff, ownership, my family, it just means the world to me. I look forward to continuing our journey to obviously get to the top of the mountain and win the Stanley Cup and bring it back to Toronto."

Tavares said he called Matthews in late July to let him know the news.

"I just wanted to let him know what I thought about him and that I thought the time was now for him to take charge and be the captain and be the leader of our club and how ready he was for it," Tavares said. "He's got my full support to continue what when I came here six years ago to do and wanting to bring the Stanley Cup back here to Toronto and finding a way to do that."

Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving first broached passing on the captaincy to Matthews with Tavares in a meeting earlier this summer and Tavares was immediately on board.

"This was not a hard conversation in the sense that John is a really smart guy and when you start having conversations about the team and the evolution, at the end of the day everybody has the same goal," Treliving said. "The goal here is to win and you are always finding different ways to push the process along. John right from the start when we talked about it, he's seen the evolution of Auston. It was a smooth process."

Matthews was born in San Ramon, California, but grew up in Scottsdale, Arizona, after his family moved there when he was an infant.

Selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Maple Leafs, Matthews had an NHL career-high 107 points last season, including 69 goals, which was the most in a season since 1995-96, when Mario Lemieux scored 69 for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"After [Tavares] kind of let me know, I told him I was like shaking. I had chills," Matthews said. "It's such a big honor just to represent the Maple Leafs and put on that jersey every night. To be the captain is truly special. For him to call me and kind of let me know that he wanted to pass on the captaincy to me was very emotional. I felt a lot of things, but it's truly an honor."

Matthews has won the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the NHL's leading goal-scorer three times (2020-21, 2021-22, 2023-24). When he scored 60 goals in 2021-22, he became the first U.S.-born player to hit that mark. That same season, he won the Hart Trophy as the League's most valuable player and the Ted Lindsay Award, given annually to the most outstanding player in the NHL as voted by members of the NHL Players' Association. He won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2016-17.

Since joining the NHL in the 2016-17 season, Matthews has scored at least 34 goals in each season and leads all NHL players with 368 goals, 40 more than Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (328), who is second. Matthews is also eighth in points over that span with 649.

"Over these past eight seasons, we've witnessed first-hand Auston's trajectory and evolution as a player and a person," Maple Leafs president and alternate governor Brendan Shanahan said. "He's grown year over year and has shown, through his dedication to the Leafs and unwavering commitment, that he is ready to lead this club."

Matthews ranks third in goals in Maple Leafs history behind former captains Sundin (420) and Darryl Sittler (389). He is sixth all-time in points in Toronto history behind Sundin (987), Sittler (916), Dave Keon (858), Borje Salming (768) and George Armstrong (713). All but Salming are former Maple Leafs captains.

"This was part of a conversation that grew as the summer went along that John was very much a part of from beginning to end," Treliving said. "We believe Auston's unique qualities as a hockey player and ability to inspire his teammates will drive our team's success moving forward."

The Maple Leafs have qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in all eight of Matthews' seasons, but have advanced past the opening round just once, which came in 2022-23. He has 48 points (23 goals, 25 assists) in 55 playoff games.

Matthews said he hopes to remain with Toronto for his entire career. He is entering the first season of a four-year, $53 million contract ($13.25 million average annual value) he signed with the Maple Leafs on Aug. 23, 2023.

"That's the goal, is to be a Leaf for life, to win here with my teammates, for the city, those are always things you keep in the back of your mind, but they are also things that are in the future as well," Matthews said. "I've loved every minute of being a Toronto Maple Leaf like I've said, it's such a tremendous honor. You kind of take it one day at a time, but I hope that's the case."

Tavares, who has one year remaining on the seven-year contract he signed July 1, 2018, said he has seen a maturation in Matthews since joining the team that left him feeling that Matthews is ready to assume the captaincy.

"As I took time to then think about things, look at our team, at Auston, myself, everything as a whole and try to be very aware of the process of where things are at…what Auston has become as a player, a person, a leader, it just made a lot more sense and felt more and more right to me as time went on and I thought about it," Tavares said.

Matthews is the fifth-youngest captain in the NHL behind Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators) and Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks), who are 24, and Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens) and Nico Hischier (New Jersey Devils), who are 25.

There are six teams in the NHL without a captain: the Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Seattle Kraken, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Utah Hockey Club.