Leafs GM Brad Treliving Opens Up on the Truth Behind Why Auston Matthews Was Named Captain

In mid-August, the Leafs the Leafs officially ushered in a new era when John Tavares presented Matthews with his number 34 Leafs jersey that had the ‘C’ stitched onto it. Many believed that it has been Matthews’ team for the past couple of seasons, but now it’s official.

At the time, there were questions surrounding the timing of the captaincy change as it happened just weeks before training camp and some pondered what it meant to the future of Tavares. At the time, Treliving had explained why the team announced the captaincy change when they did, so that they could go into training camp with no distractions.

While Treliving gave a brief explanation as to what caused the change during the initial press conference, Treliving has now revealed the truth on Monday’s episode of the ‘Spittin’ Chiclets’ podcast. He revealed that it was more about giving Matthews the responsibility to push the team when they need to be pushed, and that it wasn’t a matter of Tavares slipping, but more of a nod to Auston being ready to take on the challenge.

“It was just a conversation that John and I had at the end of the year to start off with. This wasn’t about John not doing a great jobThis isn’t about JT not doing a good jobThis is more about Auston than it is about John. Auston has reached that point in his career. He’s not only our best player but one of the best in the world And how do we push him along so he can bring the group along? He’s such a respectful guy, that I didn’t want him deferring. It’s time for him to push forward and set new standards and challenge his teammates to reach those standards that he’s at. Right from the start John agreed.

The other piece of this wasn’t me or any of us saying, ‘Auston, you have to do this’. He wants to do this.”
Treliving went on to further explain that Matthews is someone that people naturally follow and giving him the captaincy in this case allows him to continue do that without having to worry about stepping on Tavares’ toes, so to speak.

Matthews will look to guide the Leafs on a deep playoff run for the first time since the team reached the conference finals in 2002, but will also look to win his fourth Rocket Richard Trophy in the process, and break the franchise record for most goals as a Leaf, a record held by Mats Sundin. He needs just 52 to do so, and while he will tell you that individual records and awards don’t matter, there is something special about having your name in the Maple Leafs’ record books.