Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews recently sat down with Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, and touched on several topics, including his offseason training, his leadership journey, and his outlook on Toronto’s season.
Matthews made it very clear that he feels this Maple Leafs’ team is good enough to win.
“I’m excited about our group, I really like our group a lot,” Matthews said. “I think over the course of the season, it’s natural you’re going to go through some ups and downs. There’s adversity, but, I think our group as a whole I’m extremely confident in, despite the lack of postseason success over the years.”
Since Matthews was drafted first overall in 2016, the Maple Leafs have won only one playoff series. Matthews isn’t going to let the past dictate the future, and is excited for what’s ahead in Toronto.
“Sometimes you have to take your licks and just continue to push on, and put your best foot forward. You know, I think we feel confident that we will break through at some point. It just takes one postseason, right? I think for us, just continue to put the work in and stay in the moment. We can only control, what we can control today”.
Matthews was named the 26th captain of the Maple Leafs on August 14, taking over for John Tavares. Will we see a ‘new’ Matthews this season with a ‘C’ on his jersey? According to Matthews himself, it doesn’t appear so.
“There’s a couple of miscellaneous things that kind of fall into your responsibility, but I think I’m in this position now because of who I am as a person, and as a leader on this team, going into my ninth season. So, I’m very honored to be wearing the ‘C’ and represent us in that light and feel very lucky to be in that position”.
Matthews has been putting in the work leading up to the 2024-25 season. He admitted to Bukauskas and Friedman that he started skating earlier throughout the summer months, than he has in the past. Matthews also mentioned he’s ‘tweaked’ a couple of training regiments, but wouldn’t disclose any details. One thing he did disclose, his offseason training included playing tennis against Canadian basketball icon, Steve Nash.
“I played with Steve Nash a couple of times this summer. Yeah, he’s actually my neighbour in Phoenix. Knew him a little bit from that and I ran into him where we play tennis and got to know him a little bit. He’s much better than me, but he’s a lot of fun to play with, great athlete.”
From the court to the ice, Matthews also spent time in Germany training with Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid. It’s become evident over the years, Matthews loves to learn from the best, on and off the ice, and he’s truly honored and humbled to be playing in front of Leafs Nation.
“I love playing in Toronto, and obvious it comes with much more than just the hockey aspect, and the noise surrounding the team, and the media and all that stuff. But, it’s also a very cool part about playing here. The team means so much to the fans, the city, and how much pride they take in the team.”
