© Nelson Campana/Toronto Maple Leafs

TORONTO — Auston Matthews was stunned.

On the other end of the line in late July was Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares. Matthews figured he was calling about the upcoming season and what the team should, could expect.

What he didn’t expect was what Tavares was about to tell him.

“I’m transferring the captaincy to you, Tavares said. “It’s your time.”

“After he let me know and everything, I told him I was shaking,” Matthews said Wednesday about his reaction to the news. “I had chills.”

It was an overwhelming moment for the 26-year-old center who’s had no shortage of them in his young career, not the least of which was winning the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in 2021-22 and the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the League’s top goal-scorer three times (2020-21, 2021-22, 2023-24).

This was different. This was all about the rich 107-year legacy of the franchise and joining greats like Dave Keon, Darryl Sitter, Mats Sundin, Doug Gilmour and Wendel Clark with the honor of wearing the “C” on the storied Maple Leafs jersey.

Here he was, a kid who grew up in the sunbelt market of Scottsdale, Arizona, now becoming the 26th captain in Maple Leafs history and the second non-Canadian to hold that role, the Sweden-born Sundin being the other (1997-2008). It all seemed surreal to him.

All these thoughts raced through his mind as he was on the phone trying to digest Tavares’ generous gesture.

“For him to call me and kind of let me know that he wanted to pass on the captaincy to me was very emotional,” Matthews said. “I felt a lot of things, but it’s truly an honor.”

Whether it was Matthews or teammates Morgan Rielly and Mitch Marner, all were quick to point out the classy way Tavares handled the entire situation. Indeed, the 33-year-old took the high road in this process.

Put yourself in his shoes. Imagine how difficult that would be.

On July 1, 2018, Tavares signed a seven-year, $77 million contract with the Maple Leafs ($11 million average annual value) and returned to his hometown. Growing up in the Toronto area, he’d cheered for the locals and went to bed every night tucked away under blue-and-white Maple Leafs blankets.

“I wanted to come here and win a Stanley Cup in Toronto, for Toronto,” he said Wednesday.

One year later, the dream got even better when Tavares was named captain of the team he’d been such a devoted fan of as a kid.

Unfortunately for him, the championship he’d envisioned never came. In his tenure as Maple Leafs captain the past five years, the team won just one Stanley Cup Playoff series, paving the road for change.

Was it mainly his fault that Toronto has struggled so mightily in the postseason? Of course not. In fact, the only time the Maple Leafs have advanced to the second round in 20 years came when his overtime goal in Game 6 of the 2023 Eastern Conference First Round eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The concept of relinquishing the captaincy grew teeth when Tavares and general manager Brad Treliving discussed the concept during player exit meetings after the Maple Leafs had been eliminated by the Boston Bruins in seven games in their first-round series this past April. After working out some of the nuances of the transfer in subsequent weeks, Tavares told Treliving he wanted to deliver the news to Matthews personally.

Cue the emotional phone call.

“I just wanted to let him know what I thought about him and that I thought the time was now for him to take charge and be the captain and be the leader of our club and how ready he was for it,” Tavares said. “He’s got my full support to continue what when I came here six years ago to do and wanting to bring the Stanley Cup back here to Toronto and finding a way to do that.”

Tavares’ selfless support of Matthews was on full display Wednesday at a splashy news conference at RealSport, the upscale restaurant and watering hole just a slap shot away from Scotiabank Arena, the Maple Leafs’ home rink.

The organization went all-out in presenting Matthews as its new captain. His teammates, Rielly and Marner, were there, as were former captains Clark and Gilmour. So, too, was new coach Craig Berube, team president Brendan Shanahan, Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment CEO/president Keith Pelley and team co-owner Larry Tanenbaum. The parents of both Tavares and Matthews were also on hand.

But the stars of the show were Tavares’ sons, 4-year-old Jace and 3-year-old Axton, who sat on either side of mom Aryne wearing Matthews’ No. 34 jerseys.

Now that’s class.

“I think that was my one request today was them getting a couple jerseys, have Auston sign and add to their collection,” Tavares said. “It’s meant the world to myself and to my family. The way my boys have gotten to know Auston like all the other guys on the team have been amazing.”

Much like the graciousness Tavares has shown, Matthews said, adding he had no idea the two kids would be decked out in his jersey.

“It was pretty cool to see them wearing the 34 with a ‘C’ on it,” he said.

Through it all, Tavares’ legacy with the Maple Leafs remains to be seen. He’s been criticized at times in Toronto for underachieving, which is a head-scratching take when you consider he’s averaged almost a point per game in his six seasons with Toronto (419 points in 440 games). 

In the end, it’s his contract his detractors have an issue with, despite the fact it was one the Maple Leafs opted to give him on the open market as an unrestricted free agent six years ago, not one he demanded.

At the same time, he also still rubs many New York Islanders fans the wrong way, both for not re-signing there in 2018 and for not agreeing to be traded during the 2017-18 season so the Islanders could get some kind of return for him prior to his departure to Toronto in the summer.

Tavares is in the final season of his contract with the Maple Leafs. It would have been easy in that respect for them to pass over the captaincy next summer. Seamless.

Instead, he took one for the team Wednesday, with his head held high, Clark said.

“I think it’s great,” Clark said. “And I think it was handled great.

“I think the professionalism of what Tavares did, and how he did it, and how he wants to still be a part of the leadership group and help his teammate and buddy, well, just because someone has that letter ‘C’ on his jersey, doesn’t change him as a person.”

Matthews could not have said it any better.