After months and seemingly years of speculation, the Maple Leafs have decided to replace John Tavares as captain and hand the reigns to Auston Matthews.
With that in mind, at this point, it would be in the best interest of the organization to rip the band aid right off.
What does that mean, you ask?
Well, it’s simple: The 33-year-old shouldn’t wear a letter – at all – moving forward.
Truth be told, this is more about the pressure this team will be facing in 2024-25 and less about Tavares. They had to do something that was symbolic of change, and early in the offseason, it became abundantly clear that it wasn’t going to be a blockbuster trade to initiate that.
Any way you slice it, without question, the Leafs will need the best version of John Tavares if they have any chance of winning the Stanley Cup this upcoming season. If anything, Tavares, who’s slated to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, can use this demotion as revenge fuel. As we’ve seen in spades during his tenure in Toronto, a motivated John Tavares is a scary thing. In fact, it hasn’t been mentioned enough over the past few days, but he’s scored some big-time goals for the franchise —including the OT winner that propelled the Leafs to the second round for the first time in 19 years.
Furthermore, there’s no question that focusing on his game more and dealing less with the extra-curriculars surrounding the team could benefit the veteran forward in the long run. Tavares has a lot of game left, and unfortunately, many have lost sight of that because of how much of a pressure cooker the Toronto market truly is. If utilized correctly, he’s still a very effective player. If Tavares can find a way to channel the disappointment of being stripped of the captaincy into finding ways to make a difference on a nightly basis, the Leafs will be in business. Craig Berube just needs to find that sweet spot.
On the surface, there’s no doubt that this will sting a bit. That said, if there’s someone who can handle something like this, it’s John Tavares. He just needs to go out there now and play some hockey. Plain and simple.
