The news of John Tavares handing over the captaincy to Auston Matthews apparently was planned months in advance according to TSN insider Chris Johnston.
Johnston states that discussions had begun after the Toronto Maple Leafs lost in the first round of the Boston Bruins. Leafs management initiated the conversation with Tavares during their exit interviews to see whether he'd be willing to move the captaincy to Matthews prior to the season beginning.
"It's a conversation that started, I think in a serious manner, as quickly as when the team's season ended in May with that loss to Boston in the first round. It's my understanding that John Tavares, when he had his exit meeting a couple days after that Game 7 loss with team management, it was brought up that this was at least a possibility," Johnston reported during TSN's Sportscentre on Monday evening.
"And those conversations continued to a point where John Tavares was comfortable handing it off to Auston Matthews, and I think from the Leafs' organizational perspective, they've been thinking all along that this could be where they get eventually."
Many throughout the league including Leafs Nation felt that this change was overdue. During the season ending press conference with CEO Keith Pelley, Brendan Shanahan and Brad Treliving, all three men explained that the team needed to make changes and that everything was on the table.
Talk of imminent trades to shake up the Core Four were rampant across the Internet but that trade never occurred.
With their hands tied on how the contracts are structured, the Maple Leafs chose to go a different route to show the change they were talking about which is changing the captain, bringing a new head coach and coaching staff while upgrading the defense corps and goaltending.
Will these changes be enough for a different outcome? It remains to be seen but it's safe to say that the winds of change will blow in steadily when the new season begins in October.
