Culture shift in Leaf land

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On August 14th just a little over a month out from the start of training camp, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that former captain John Tavares would be relinquishing the captaincy and giving it to star forward Auston Matthews. The 26 year old ironically was named the 26th captain in Maple Leafs history after yet another disappointing year from the franchise. The change likely comes in an attempt to shift the culture in the locker room after what can only be labeled as a waste of an era to this point. When John Tavares joined the Maple Leafs in the summer of 2018, Matthews was just coming out of his entry level contract and was not ready to take on the responsibility of leading one of the most historical franchises. The team chose to name the already established and experienced captain in John Tavares, and in his five years as the captain, the culture around the team was often in question. They severely underperformed in 4 of the 5 years, failing to make it past the first round of the playoffs and winning only a single game in the second while also failing to make an official playoff spot in the first year. Questions began to arise of if the players cared at all, and their heart was often doubted by fans and media alike. Ultimately the responsibility of leading the locker room and holding others accountable falls onto the team captain who often appeared monotone and robotic in his press conferences, reinforcing the idea of the team lacking heart. 

 

 

The team will enter a new era this season as the face of the six, finally will have his chance to dawn the C on opening night this coming October. Matthews has been the face of Toronto since being drafted first overall by the Maple Leafs back in 2016. The proclaimed chosen one to end Toronto’s curse is already widely believed to be the greatest player the franchise has ever seen at just 27 years old, joining the likes of Toronto greats like; Mats Sundin, Darryl Sitler, and Wendell Clarke. Matthews, since breaking into the league in 2016-2017 leads the league in goals as well as sits at eighth place in total points. Coming into his ninth season Matthews has won six of the NHL’s most prominent awards including; the 2017 Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, as well as the 2021 and 2024 Rocket Richard Trophy for finishing first in goal scoring as well as the 2022 Rocket Trophy where he also won the Ted Lindsay Trophy for “most outstanding player” as well as the Hart Memorial Trophy for most valuable player to his team.

 

 

The franchise center has been open about his frustration in recent years with the team’s lack of playoff success, and stated the individual awards aren’t what he’s looking for. “That stuff is nice, but it’s not like, fulfilling. It’s not what I’m after. I’m trying to be the best individual I can be, the best teammate, person and leader on the team I can be. Everyone in here is after one goal (the Stanley Cup). All the other stuff is not something I’m chasing after that makes me feel good”. Aside from the earlier years of his career, Matthews has been a real game breaker in recent years when the post-season rolls around, however unfortunately didn’t get his chance this past season in the trilogy with Boston where he went down with a mysterious illness in game three and was forced the play at less than hundred percent in game seven. “I got really, really sick after Game two, then I took a weird hit and couldn’t go any longer. That’s as detailed as I’m going to get. It was really frustrating, it sucks and it was killing me to watch. But I’m proud of the guys, how they climbed their way back in the series. I was fortunate to get to play Game seven, just tried to go out there and give it my all.” 

 

There was some big overhaul in leaf land this off-season as former head coach Sheldon Keefe was fired following yet another first round exit and the team brought in former stanley cup winner Craig Berube to be the teams new bench boss. Berube won the Stanley Cup in his first year as an NHL head coach back in 2019, when he brought the last place in the league St. Louis Blues all the way to the promise land in a matter of only a few short months. He brings a much different style of coaching to the club as he’s a far more defensive minded coach and likes to play an older school style system, compared to his predecessor who seemed to be more attached to mimicking the work of recently successful teams. General manager Brad Treliving had stated at their year end press conference that finding the right coach for the team would not be a decision taken lightly and the general manager had nothing but great things to say when he hired Berube on May 21st. “Ultimately, character matters. That is with your team, and that is, most importantly, with your head coach. I look at Craig, and ultimately, what brought me back to him was his leadership, his ability to build teams and have a team-first concept, his ability to connect with players, and his ability to hold people accountable. It gives me great pleasure and honour to introduce the next head coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Craig Berube”.

 

 

With the season less than a month away from kickstarting the Leafs have a fresh look with their new coach and new captain along with a somewhat overhauled roster. They brought in veteran defenseman Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larson for their backend while on forward it is expected that some of their young guns will get a bigger role such as; Fraser Minten, Nick Robertson, and 2023 first round pick Easton Cowan. The “Buds” will also be running a newly formed goaltending tandem of Joseph Woll and journeyman plus Stanley Cup champion Anthony Stolarz. The team also just signed Toronto native Max Domi to a long term contract extension which will cement his future with the team. The overhaul has Leafs fans and media excited at the prospect of a new-look Leafs roster and hopefully a culture shift from within the locker room. In addition longtime Leafs stars in Mitch Marner and John Tavares contracts are set to expire at the conclusion of this season, leaving the future of the team up in the air in what most are considering a more optimistic thing. Following the failure of last year’s playoffs the fan base has been looking for change and the prospect of an overhaul in the top end talent could be just what the franchise needs going forward. The Leafs kick off their season on the road in Montreal on October 9th before their home opener on October 12th against the Pittsburgh Penguins where the official on ice commemoration of Auston Matthews as captain will take place as well as the debut game for “coach chief” (Craig Berube). What do you think about the coaching and captaincy change? Will be enough to shift the culture in Leaf land?

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