News Article: Matthews ready to be captain

[BM14]

Ya I think this is a good call.

Can you only have 2 As if there is a captain? If so maybe he is first fill-in to wear a letter if someone goes down to injury.

Up to 3.

The kid just does everything the right way and has the effort to match.

+he'd be on PK1 as well.

 

[Battle Lin]

ya hes ready for the C, the cup

 

[Nineteen67]

Matthews is in a contract negotiation; of course he’s going say he’s ready to be captain.

 

[Notsince67]

We can't wait until next offseason, we need a captain to lift the cup in June 2019

Let Marleau do it

 

[Ziggdiezan]

Let Marleau do it

I imagine JT would be the 1st to lift the cup if the leafs win this year and dont have a captain. Hometown boy who is a superstar in the league currently and evidently very humble and well liked by his teammates.

 

[ACC1224]

Let Marleau do it

If Marleau doesn't do it, he would certainly be the first one it's passed to.

 

[Buds17]

If Marleau doesn't do it, he would certainly be the first one it's passed to.

I'd guess Rielly (as the team's only A at this point, and the longest serving one in any case) to Marleau.

 

[GodEmperor]

Just give it to Tavares for a year, we gain nothing by putting extra pressure on Matthews.

And no Rielly shouldn't be captain, he's a great player, but he's not even top 10 in his position, this team is going to be Matthews team and the sentimentality should be given to Tavares for signing with us, so having him be captain for 1-3 years and easing Auston into it would be great.

Giving it to Rielly makes no sense.

Tavares C
Matthews A
Rielly A

 

[Peiskos]

If it were up to me I'd give it to Tavares, he's been a captain before and he's well established in this league. I fully believe Matthews will be the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, its not really a question of if but when. Give it to JT, he can wear it for 5-6 years and once he is 32-33 ish Matthews will still be just 25 and in perfect shape to take over the captaincy, more mature, seasoned, dominant etc.

Doing it this way would give Matthews a first hand opportunity to see what its like to be a captain of an NHL club. This is something he's never been exposed to and it lets both of these great players say they've been the captain of the Leafs.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Roll 4 A's this year: Tavares Matthews Rielly Marleau

Alot can change in a year but some ppl need to be honest here. JT is already a leader, Matthews still needs to learn how to be a leader.

 

[ACC1224]

Just give it to Tavares for a year, we gain nothing by putting extra pressure on Matthews.

And no Rielly shouldn't be captain, he's a great player, but he's not even top 10 in his position, this team is going to be Matthews team and the sentimentality should be given to Tavares for signing with us, so having him be captain for 1-3 years and easing Auston into it would be great.

Giving it to Rielly makes no sense.

Tavares C
Matthews A
Rielly A

You appoint a Captain for their career with the Team, not one year .

 

[crump]

Players should pick the Captain. They should roll with Assistants until they do. I would leave it until next year when you know the dynamics of the more mature team. Someone will reveal themselves as the leader.

 

[Notsince67]

Just give it to Tavares for a year, we gain nothing by putting extra pressure on Matthews.

And no Rielly shouldn't be captain, he's a great player, but he's not even top 10 in his position, this team is going to be Matthews team and the sentimentality should be given to Tavares for signing with us, so having him be captain for 1-3 years and easing Auston into it would be great.

Giving it to Rielly makes no sense.

Tavares C
Matthews A
Rielly A

Rielly gonna win the Norris this year. Mark my words.

 

[ACC1224]

Players should pick the Captain. They should roll with Assistants until they do. I would leave it until next year when you know the dynamics of the more mature team. Someone will reveal themselves as the leader.

That could potentially cause issues.
IMO, the Captain should be obvious to those in the room and the Coach/GM can appoint based on that.

 

[Clark4Ever]

Players should pick the Captain. They should roll with Assistants until they do. I would leave it until next year when you know the dynamics of the more mature team. Someone will reveal themselves as the leader.

That could lead to issues in the locker room. If the coach appoints the captain, there are no hard feelings.

 

[Ryan Michaels]

At this point it's pretty clear Babcock is not naming a captain so that he's the captain right? I'm not going to resort to childish nicknames like "egocock" or whatever other dumb stuff people wanna call him but we're well past the point in 99 percent of rebuilds where this would have been done and there's no reason it shouldn't be Matthews, short of "we don't know whats going on in the room," which is true, but if we want to fall back on that there is no discussion to be had on captaincy one way or another, but I feel like Babs is going to milk being the de facto captain as long as he can.

Hate to say it, but a part of me wonders if Matthews was born a bit to the north if he'd already be wearing the C, certainly for some posters on these boards this seems to be a point of concern.

 

[Ryan Michaels]

Just give it to Tavares for a year, we gain nothing by putting extra pressure on Matthews.

And no Rielly shouldn't be captain, he's a great player, but he's not even top 10 in his position, this team is going to be Matthews team and the sentimentality should be given to Tavares for signing with us, so having him be captain for 1-3 years and easing Auston into it would be great.

Giving it to Rielly makes no sense.

Tavares C
Matthews A
Rielly A

Sorry, did you mean Marleau? Because you could give him the captaincy for a year and it wouldn't be a totally ridiculous idea.

 

[Once]

I like the idea of JT for a bit and then Matthews in 5 or 6 years.

Let the kid continue as is and wait until he is 25 or so, there is no rush. I think JT has the experience to set the tone on and off the ice to a rather younger crop.

 

[saffronleaf]

Just make Tavares captain and when Tavares' contract is up, and Matthews is 28, Matthews can be the captain for the 2 years left on his deal plus for the duration of the 8-year extension, at which point there is hopefully another heir to the throne.

 

[Anthrax442]

I say they don't name a captain at all ever

 

[Daisy Jane]

Do teams ever let the players decide captaincy by a nomination and vote process?

I don't know if this got answered,
Montreal players chose Patches.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Just give it to Tavares for a year, we gain nothing by putting extra pressure on Matthews.

And no Rielly shouldn't be captain, he's a great player, but he's not even top 10 in his position, this team is going to be Matthews team and the sentimentality should be given to Tavares for signing with us, so having him be captain for 1-3 years and easing Auston into it would be great.

Giving it to Rielly makes no sense.

Tavares C
Matthews A
Rielly A

Not that I’m necessarily wanting Rielly as captain, the fact that he’s not the best player on his team or top 10 in his position doesn’t really mean he shouldn’t be captain. That’s not really how it works.

 

[PromisedLand]

This^. I still don't get the fascination with having a captain in pro sports, captaining the Titanic yes, a hockey team..who cares

Yup. I think the only sport on the planet where captain is important is cricket.

Other sports captain thing is not that important

 

[BertCorbeau]

Yup. I think the only sport on the planet where captain is important is cricket.

Other sports captain thing is not that important

Hey now it takes some serious skill for the NFL players to call the coin toss

 

[Skin Tape Session]

Rielly gonna win the Norris this year. Mark my words.

In nhl 19! Ha! I hope youre right, if he does, it means weve won the cup