Former Leafs captain Vaive believes transition to Matthews was 'inevitable'
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Toronto Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews added to his impressive NHL resume on Wednesday when he was named the 26th captain in franchise history.
The 26-year-old Arizona native has proven his worth on the ice since being drafted first overall in 2016, culminating in Matthews registering 69 goals and 107 points in 82 games last season.
Matthews has 368 goals and 649 points in 562 career games and helped lead the team to the playoffs in all eight seasons.
“I think when you look at the entirety of everything, this was inevitable that it was going to happen,” former Maple Leafs captain Rick Vaive told TSN 1050’s First Up on Thursday. “He leads by example on the ice and you can’t argue with what he’s done of the years.”
Matthews is taking over the captaincy from John Tavares, who has served in the position since 2019. Under Tavares, the Maple Leafs were a 100-point team three times but a lack of progress in the playoffs led to a discussion about a need for change.
The organization had already made numerous changes off the ice due to their lack of postseason success. Last season, the team hired Brad Treliving to replace Kyle Dubas as general manager and this season they hired Craig Berube to replace Sheldon Keefe as head coach.
To coincide with the changes off the ice, the team worked with both Matthews and Tavares for a change of the captaincy.
However, with Tavares heavily involved in the decision and still serving as an alternate captain, Vaive doesn’t believe there will be much of a change to the leadership group as a whole.
“I don’t think it really changes that much,” said Vaive. “A lot more is going to be expected out of Matthews with the leadership role but Tavares is still there and he’s still going to be one of the main leaders.
"Matthews may have to be a little more vocal in the room than before but it’s the same leadership group.”
Vaive has a unique perspective as someone who can relate to both Matthews and Tavares as a previous captain of the Maple Leafs. The Ottawa native was served as team captain for four season from 1982 to 1986, replacing a popular leader in Darryl Sittler after he was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Like Matthews, was he used veterans around him to help him out, such as legendary Swedish defenceman Borje Salming.
“The good part about [being named captain] is that I had Salming sitting beside me to my right,” said Vaive. “If I got up to say something or if anyone said anything [to me], he’d jump up and say, ‘Hey listen, he’ our captain so listen to him’. So, I have to give kudos to Borje because he helped me a lot.”