Toronto Star, Auston Matthews, Expected To Be Named The 26th Captain

 

The Maple Leafs will officially name Auston Matthews captain on Wednesday, per multiple reports 👀 pic.twitter.com/rYeQvPf3Fa

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) August 12, 2024

   According to multiple reports, the Maple Leafs will name Auston Matthews captain on Wednesday, August 14th. He'd be the 26th captain for the Leafs and Matthews would be the first American captain of the team in franchise history, as well as the second non-Canadian captain after Mats Sundin, a Swedish star, who had been a captain of the Maple Leafs from 1997 to 2008.

John Tavares, the current and 25th captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, was named captain in October of 2019 ahead of his second season with the team. He's served as the Leafs captain for the past five seasons and is heading into his final season of a seven-year, $77 million contract.

Tavares has played in 1109 games over his career, this includes when he had been on the New York Islanders. He's scored 456 goals, recorded 584 assists, and has 1040 points. 

   Several fans have been upset over the insider news of Matthews being the next captain, however, he'd be an excellent 26th captain of Toronto.

Since his NHL career began, he's been a star. During his first career game, he scored four goals against the Ottawa Senators on October 12th, 2016. Matthews finished his rookie season with 40 goals, 29 assists, and 69 points. He hasn't slowed down since. Just this past season, 2023-24, he led the whole league with the most goals and finished the season with the most goals. Matthews secured 69 goals over 81 games, also winning his third Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy. - Auston Matthews has played in 562 games with 368 goals, 281 assists, and 649 points.

During this past NHL season, Matthews has shown how much of a leader he can be. He's shown what he can do for the Maple Leafs with his amazing skill and talent, and he's shown that he will be able to continue to keep Toronto as a playoff team to hopefully reach the Stanley Cup. He truly does deserve to be named the 26th captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it'll be great to see the team with their new captain.