Insider reveals a shocking decision may be coming involving Leafs' John Tavares
Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos revealed that the Toronto Maple Leafs have discussed internally about stripping John Tavares of the Leafs' captaincy.
Entering the final year of his 7-year, $77M deal with the Leafs and now eligible to sign an extension, the future of John Tavares is uncertain.
While Tavares has said that he intends to play out the final season of his contract with the Leafs, his future outside of this season is in question. Will he return on a team-friendly deal to finish his career? Will he leave his hometown team and sign with another contender? No one knows.
Yesterday on Sportsnet, Nick Kypreos revealed that with Tavares entering the final year of his contract, the Leafs have discussed having Tavares hand over the captaincy to Auston Matthews.
"From what I'm hearing, the Leafs are contemplating taking the captaincy away from [Tavares] and giving it to Auston [Matthews]. They will talk about it. I'm not saying it's going to happen, but it's real. It's a natural progression to understand that we've put all of our eggs in the Auston Matthews basket. We've made him the highest paid player in the league... so it's his team. The time is now. He is at peak Auston Matthews. It's time for you now to shoulder the responsibility, besides being the highest paid player in the league, to shoulder and carry, be the face of this franchise. I'm not necessarily saying he's the perfect guy, but it's his team."
It's a shocking revelation, but one that makes sense given that Matthews will be a Leaf for at least another four seasons as his extension begins in the upcoming season.
As Justin Bourne said during the conversation, he (Matthews) is the face of the franchise. How Auston goes, the team goes more often than not and it is something many fans believe should have happened already.
Source: Sportsnet
What does John Tavares future look like with the Maple Leafs
| POLL |
JUILLET 2 | 788 ANSWERS Insider reveals a shocking decision may be coming involving Leafs' John Tavares Should Auston Matthews have the 'C' in Toronto? |
| Yes | 514 | 65.2 % |
| No | 274 | 34.8 % |
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