After Auston Matthews was named the 26th captain in Toronto Maple Leafs history, President Brendan Shanahan discussed the decision to anoint Matthews with the C and the approval from John Tavares.
How have you seen Auston Matthews grow as a leader since he joined the team?
Shanahan: As a lot of people have stated, he came in game one as a very talented young individual, but you see him as an 18-year-old through to where he has evolved throughout the years and taken steps with his growth and maturity on and off the ice. His game has matured.
It is the kind of thing you hope and expect when you draft a player of that talent — that they will continue to improve. When a guy scores four goals in his first game and you see improvement from him from there on and off the ice, it has been good to see. I think he is ready, and the time is right.
In terms of John Tavares’ role in the change, how difficult is a day like today?
Shanahan: John is a cerebral guy. John saw and understood it as well as we did that the time was right.
I have known the Tavares family from his uncle in his lacrosse days. I know what they are made of and the kind of team players they are. They are always thinking of what is best for the team.
I wasn’t surprised at all to see John embrace the idea and concept. He has one goal here. He wants to do anything he thinks can help pull the team further. I think John is a unique individual who wanted to be a part of that. He certainly wanted to help Auston along the way.
What is something that we don’t see from the outside that speaks to Auston Matthews’ leadership?
Shanahan: There are lots of things you could describe, but I think the intangible that was alluded to today is that he has the ability where people want to follow him.
It is not that John didn’t have that, but we are now drafting players who had posters of Auston Matthews on the wall when they were little kids. Auston has that ability. It is not something that he has worked on. It is just something he was born with. People want to follow him and are drawn to him.
Giving him this time and this runway up until this point in his career and not putting that kind of pressure on him as an 18-year-old—allowing him to watch some of the leaders who have been here in front of him—has helped him evolve and become ready to do this.
As a former player, how much do you view it from that perspective when making a move like this?
Shanahan: You look at this from the perspective of a team president, but I also made sure to look at it and remember it as a player in the dressing room. That was really important to me. It was really important.
I actually went over to John’s house and sat with him in his backyard. Erin was there. I really talked to him about this and gauged his comfortability when this was first being talked about.
His role in the dressing room will not change. John will remain the same. I have played on lots of great teams that have had multiple captains. One guy wears the C, but there are a lot of captains.
They alluded to that. This isn’t about putting all of the pressure on Auston. He has leadership people around him. We have guys who don’t wear a letter on their sweaters who are leaders on our team.
I think this is such a selfless move by John. When I sat with him, I knew that he was comfortable. In a lot of ways, John’s preparation to go out and win every game—and do his job—is not going to change.
